573 workers left for Malaysia in August

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. 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.

As per the MoU, Malaysia is entitled to select Bangladeshi recruiting agencies, whereas, the Bangladesh expatriates' welfare ministry will give recruitment approval to agencies based on their submissions of documents for sending workers abroad.

According to the Malaysian government's new salary structure, migrant workers are expected to get a salary of at least 1,500 Malaysian ringgit per month.

In addition, they will be entitled to other benefits including overtime and accommodation.

According to BMET's latest data, 92,908 migrant workers have gone overseas in August for employment, which is an increase from 75,499 overseas employment in July.

In August, the highest 47,033 migrant workers have gone to Saudi Arabia, followed by 19,764 workers to Oman, 6,857 workers to Singapore, and 6,700 workers to the United Arab Emirates.

Kuwait rounds up the top five destination countries in August by intaking 2,730 workers.

In the first eight months of this year, about 7.83 lakh migrant workers have gone overseas for employment, says BMET data.