JAMIL MAHMUD

As many as 573 migrant workers have gone to Malaysia for employment in August, shows latest data of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

After nearly four years of absence, Malaysia started to intake fresh Bangladeshi migrant workers from early August in line with a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in December last year.

The MoU lifts an embargo imposed on Bangladesh by the Southeast Asian country in September 2018.

An official at BMET’s emigration wing yesterday over the phone said after the market reopened, they have so far issued “emigration clearance” to about 1,000 Malaysia-bound workers.

The bureau has so far received documents for emigration clearance of more than 8,000 such migrant workers from at least 15 recruiting agencies, said the official, preferring anonymity.

These recruiting agencies have got the employment permits from the expatriates’ welfare ministry, added the official.

The official said they are expecting that the number of Malaysia-bound migrant workers will increase further from October with about 10,000 to 15,000 workers may go there each month.

In 2018, Malaysia suspended hiring Bangladeshi workers on allegation of “syndication” and malpractices in the recruitment process and high recruitment costs.

After prolonged negotiations, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed the MoU last year to start sending migrants from Bangladesh under a new arrangement.

After this, a first batch of 53 migrant workers left for Malaysia in a flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on August 8, according to BMET.

Malaysia is one of the largest labour markets for Bangladesh. Starting from 1978, Malaysia has so far hired about 10.57 lakh workers from Bangladesh, shows BMET data.