PORIMOL PALMA

Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur need to act quickly to bring to book the perpetrators behind the criminal networks engaged in money laundering and labour trafficking from Bangladesh, say labour migration experts.

They said the Bangladesh police’s initiative to probe the syndicate of 101 recruiting agencies and related individuals is a welcome move.

They also said Malaysia must extradite the two controversial businessmen -- Aminul Islam, a Bangladesh-born Malaysian citizen, and Ruhul Amin Swapan, owner of recruiting agency Catharsis International -- for investigation.

“Over the last decade, a vested quarter with government influence in both countries manipulated the labour recruitment from Bangladesh. Our people have long been victims of extortion, exploitation, and trafficking,” said Prof CR Abrar, executive director of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University.

About a million Bangladeshi workers were recruited by Malaysia over the last decade. Between 2016 and 2018, a syndicate of 101 recruiting agencies was engaged in recruitment.

The recruitment was suspended in September 2018 due to labour exploitation and huge corruption involving some top Malaysian politicians.

The market reopened in August 2022 but was suspended on May 31 this year following reports of massive corruption and exploitation of migrant workers.

During both periods, Malaysian government had selected the recruiting agencies, though Bangladesh had requested to allow all licensed agencies to send workers.

Malaysia gave no explanation about the criteria of the recruiting agencies selected.

A study by US-based non-profit Verite, published in May, said 96 percent of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia reported facing risks of exploitation resulting from recruitment debt.

On average, workers paid at least Tk 5,44,000 (US $5,000), which is equal to three years of pay to a casual labourer in Bangladesh, in recruitment fees for a job in Malaysia.

After the fall of the Awami League regime, Altaf Khan, a

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