Deputy minister rejects claims Putrajaya will recruit Bangladesh workers on the sly

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed says the recruitment of foreign workers is now more transparent. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, February 20, 2016.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has rejected claims by a Bangladeshi official that Malaysia's suspension on foreign worker recruitment is "eyewash" and that it will proceed with taking workers from the country.

Nur Jazlan said the claim was untrue as foreign workers could not be brought in on the sly since their registration process was now online.

"It is not true, because we are now registering the foreign workers we take in online, it is far more transparent," he told The Malaysian Insider when asked to comment on the scepticism of a Bangladeshi officer who dismissed Putrajaya's announcement on the intake freeze.

Nur Jazlan said the freeze, announced yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, applied to all source countries, not just Bangladesh. 

Acting secretary of Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, Begum Shamsun Nahar, had told the Dhaka Tribune she believed the Malaysian government would still take in workers from Bangladesh as agreed in a memorandum of understanding involving 1.5 million workers signed two days ago between the two countries.

The deal was also signed one day before Putrajaya announced it was suspending recruitment of foreign workers from all source countries. 

"The Malaysian government has made the announcement to calm local pressure groups who are opposed to recruiting foreign workers," Begum Shamsun was quoted as saying.

The Dhaka Tribune also said she had called Putrajaya's announcement an "eyewash", and that there had yet to be any official notice on the freeze from Malaysia.

But Nur Jazlan said Malaysia was not obliged to inform Dhaka of its decision to suspend recruitment under the agreement, which allowed a time frame of three to five years for the intake of workers.

Additionally, he said, the 1.5 million figure was an offer made by Bangladesh and not the number of workers requested by Malaysia.

"It was they who offered it to us, so it's up to us to accept. We're not cancelling the agreement. We're only saying that we're freezing the intake from all source countries for the timebeing. Maybe for three to six months more, until we are satisfied."

The freeze will remain in place while the government proceeds with the Rehiring Programme for Illegal Foreign Workers, which began on February 15 and will run until December 31.

The programme is to legalise those who have been working without valid documents and to help the government assess the true situation of illegal migrant labour and industry needs.

Separately, Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot said the freeze would not affect the deal signed with Dhaka.

"This announcement does not affect the validity of the agreement signed with the government of Bangladesh," he said in a statement today, adding that more details on the suspension would be announced soon.

- TMI