It is reassuring to hear from the new Expatriate Welfare Minister Nurul Islam that the government will introduce a disciplined system for sending workers to Malaysia so that no one would be exploited. To translate the goal into reality, the government has to plug the loopholes in the manpower export process, particularly with regard to mode of labour recruitment and migration costs. 

Recently, the Malaysian government announced that it would recruit 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers through private sector, popularly known as business-to-business (B2B) system. Earlier, Malaysia had resumed hiring Bangladeshi workers through government arrangements (G2G) in 2012, after nearly a four-year ban clamped in 2009 following massive labour abuses through private sector recruitment. Though the government process is safer and economical, it is too slow to cope with the huge pressure of recruitment demand. During 2007-08, excessive workers were hired against 'fake' demands. As a result, on arrival many of them remained jobless or were forced to work with little or no pay. The workers also had to incur extra money due to high fees imposed by brokers. Now with the resumption of private arrangement, the issue of safe migration has come to the fore. The government should put in place effective monitoring system on private sector recruiters to ensure that no manipulation happens in the recruitment process. It has a plan to set up a service centre in Malaysia. After the workers' arrival there, the centre will take charge and hand them over to designated companies. We fully endorse the plan. 

Malaysia is the second most sought after destination for Bangladeshi job seekers. Opening up of the Malaysian market is really a great opportunity for us. This time the recruitment process should be safe and worker-friendly to avoid the repetition of any unsavoury situation.