According to Free Malaysia Today ( FMT ), Bangladesh’s minister of state for expatriates ‘ welfare and overseas employment, Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury has demanded a special one-off period to allow these workers to enter Malaysia.
The personnel have approved permits from Malaysia’s immigration section as well as appropriate accounts from Bangladesh’s Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, which were issued after their Malay permits were approved, he said.
These employees ‘ “future depends on getting employment in Kuala Lumpur”, he added.
Mr Shofiqur will meet on Wednesday ( Jun 5 ) with the Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Mdm Haznah Md Hashim, to discuss the matter, according to news reports.
The minister continued, adding that Bangladeshi authorities are looking into claims that future employees have been charged higher recruitment fees and have had to spend more for their flights.
Last month, a deadline for companies to hire migrant workers in Malaysia was changed from end-September to end-May 31 for national and border security reasons.
Last year, Malaysia’s immigration office said that since May 22, 2, 500 immigrant workers have arrived each morning, with the number increasing to between 4, 000 and 4, 500 on May 27.
The normal number of daily immigrants is 500 to 1, 000, the ministry said.
Companies from six fields in Malaysia are allowed to buy labour from 15 nations – Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and India.
But those from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal make up over three in four refugees in Malaysia.
According to standard statistics, documented immigrant workers make up about 15 per cent of Malaysia’s workforce and some do thus- called 3D – ugly, dangerous and demeaning – jobs that are generally shunned by locals.
Combined with illegal workers, their figures could be around 5.5 million based on illegal quotes.