PM's Malaysia visit reopens labour market, recruitment questions remain

Malaysia has announced the reopening of its labour market for Bangladesh and 11 other countries after nearly two years of suspension, but confusion continues among aspiring migrant workers and recruiting agencies as no formal directive has yet reached them from the government. Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Ramanan Ramakrishnan announced on Monday that the labour market would reopen for 12 countries, including Bangladesh, following Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's recent visit to Malaysia, during which he urged Kuala Lumpur to resume recruitment from Bangladesh.

Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury confirmed the development to journalists at Sylhet Circuit House on Tuesday, saying the market reopened as an outcome of the prime minister's visit. He added that the government would also work to open labour markets in the Middle East, Japan and Mauritius in the coming days. Despite the announcements, aspiring workers who reached out to recruiting agencies said they were told no official communication had yet come from the government.

Ebaidul Haq of Jhalokathi’s Dapdapia union, who paid an agency nearly two years ago before Malaysia abruptly shut its market, said contacts at the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia also confirmed that no formal announcement had been received from the government side. Nadim Hossain, another aspiring migrant from the same area, said they had been waiting for this news since Malaysia suspended recruitment on June 1, 2024, but the continued absence of an official government announcement has left them in confusion.

Members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said no procedural decision specific to Bangladesh appears to have been made yet, noting that Malaysia's announcement was a blanket one covering all 12 countries.

Former BAIRA joint secretary Mohammed Fakhrul Islam said recruiting agencies had been hopeful since the prime minister's visit, but cautioned that reopening the market does not mean recruitment will begin immediately.

He said a technical group and joint working group meeting between the two countries is still required, along with amendments to the existing memorandum of understanding on labour migration.

“We held a high-level meeting with the secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment just two days ago, but we received no guidance regarding Malaysia's market reopening,” Fakhrul said, advising aspiring workers not to deposit money with any agency for now, warning that some dishonest agencies were already soliciting payments.

Before the 2024 suspension, Malaysia itself used to designate which recruiting agencies could send workers, a system introduced partly to dismantle syndicates in Bangladesh and curb alleged money laundering during the Awami League tenure. This time, the ministry has said Bangladesh will decide which agencies are authorised. 

State Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Nurul Haque said the ministry would soon categorise recruiting agencies to prevent future recruitment disruptions, allowing aspiring workers to choose agencies based on category ratings published on a ministry website.

However, BAIRA members fear the categorisation could deepen complications, noting that many agency owners fled after the Awami League government’s fall while new entrepreneurs are seeking to enter the business.

Former BAIRA Secretary General Ali Haider Chowdhury warned that categorising agencies could recreate syndicates or monopolies similar to those seen in Jordan, Brunei, Singapore and Thailand, which he said would adversely affect the market.

BAIRA itself has not held elections in about two and a half years amid the fall of the Awami League government, the interim administration’s tenure, and the formation of the BNP government, and is currently being run by a government-appointed administrator, a situation that has created significant distance between the association and the government.

Stakeholders say a transparent and smooth process for sending workers to Malaysia will depend on policy changes, reorganisation of recruiting agencies, and, above all, the government's political will.