Bangladeshi workers to start arriving in February

Bangladeshi workers are seen at Zia International Airport in Dhaka March 16, 2009. — Reuters pic

NEW DELHI, Dec 3 — The first batch of workers from Bangladesh is set to arrive in February, following the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on manpower between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur.

Bangladesh’s Financial Express reported that the registration for overseas jobs in Malaysia would begin at the end of next month, via the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training website.

The selected job seekers’ orientation course and medical test will take place at 13 technical training centres at different places in the country.

“Upon completion of selection procedures, we will make a clean database of the selected job seekers, for handing over to the human resources ministry of Malaysia to choose candidates from the list,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain was quoted as saying in the report.

The migration cost will be Tk40,000 (RM1,440) each for the purposes of a skills test, 10 days’ pre-departure training, medical test, air fare, welfare fees and other related expenditures.

Each worker will get a minimum wage of Tk25,000 (RM900) per month, with their accommodation and meals to be provided by the employers, said the report.

The workers will enjoy weekends off and working hours will be set at eight daily, said Hossain.

“The employers will bear the return air fare of workers”.

Initially, Malaysia will hire labourers for its plantation sector, for which it needs nearly 30,000 workers to meet the immediate demand, he said.

Malaysia is in immediate need of workers for the plantation, construction, agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors.

It will recruit labourers from Bangladesh for all the five categories.

Hossain said Malaysia will recruit the workers for five years in three phases — first for two years, second for two years and third for a year.

The authorities have cautioned job seekers not to deal with “middlemen” or hand over money to them for the purpose of migration to Malaysia.

Earlier, some dishonest manpower agents had sent a large number of workers to Malaysia with fake visas.

Following malpractice by recruiting agencies, Malaysia stopped hiring labourers from Bangladesh in 2009.

Last Monday, Bangladesh and Malaysia signed three MoUs on the resumption of manpower recruitment and cooperation in preventing and combating transnational crimes between the two governments. — Bernama