An association representing recruitment agencies in Bangladesh has called for an "open market" system as part of new terms between its government and Putrajaya, scheduled to be inked this weekend.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) secretary-general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman said the system would see all 1,400 of its members given a chance to meet the demand for workers in Malaysia.
"Our members are holders of active licenses from the Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry to send workers to countries where there are work opportunities.
"In Malaysia, we have seen between 2016 and 2018, out of around 1,800 Baira members (at the time), only 10 agencies (from Bangladesh) were given the job to send workers," said Shameem.
"These (10) agencies then have their own sub-agents. But every agency has the same rights, so why should the others be sub-agents of the few agencies?
"That is why Baira feels that all valid license holders should have an equal right to do this job when there is an opportunity. It should not be monopolised by a few agencies," he said when contacted.
The then Pakatan Harapan federal administration had, on Sept 1, 2018, suspended recruitments from Bangladesh under the Foreign Worker Application System.
They cited concerns over debt bondage linked to permit approvals and recruitment fees of up to RM20,000 as charged by the agents.
Malaysia, led by then human resource minister M Kulasegaran, initiated negotiations on new recruitment terms but faced multiple delays, up until the Harapan government's downfall.
Malaysiakini sighted a letter from Shameem, representing Baira members, sent to then home minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Sept 26, 2019.
The letter highlighted concerns surrounding alleged attempts by a "controversial" company to "re-establish their suspended and blacklisted system".
Asked about the letter, Shameem said Baira maintained its stand to object to any form of alleged monopoly attempts, although this time without targeting any particular individuals or companies.
He said Baira had also submitted its recommendations for various alternative measures to reduce worker recruitment costs and ultimately improve the process, while at the same time keeping more of its members in business.
"If the government thinks the agency will charge extra money, we suggest that they ask the workers to deposit the costs with the government, for the government to transfer to the recruitment agency.
"This is a win-win situation, not by reducing the number of recruiters," he said.
It was previously reported that Bangladesh's Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad will arrive in Malaysia on Dec 18, with a signing ceremony for the Malaysia-Bangladesh MOU scheduled the next day.
'Malaysia is pushing for 25 agencies'
While it remains unclear whether the full final MOU will be made public, Malaysiakini sighted a document said to be proposals negotiated between Malaysia and Bangladesh, as well as their agreed outcome.
They include an agreement for the recruitment system to "automatically select BRA (Bangladesh Recruitment Agency) among the 25 Main BRA who will be supported by the 250 Associate BRA".
Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources within Putrajaya familiar with the negotiations, who shared their objections against the alleged "syndicate", confirmed the matter was discussed between both governments.
"The Bangladesh government has been very firm that it does not want a syndicate.
"Malaysia, however, is pushing for the 25 agencies," claimed the source, citing discussions during a second Malaysia-Bangladesh Joint Working Group meeting earlier this year.
Human Resource Minister M Saravanan last month revealed Malaysia's concern over becoming a "dumping ground" for Bangladeshi workers, in objecting to a request for 2,000 of its recruitment agencies to be allowed to send workers here.
In response to Saravanan's remark, migrant labour activist Andy Hall today said both governments must be transparent in their decision to impose any new proposed limit to the number of Bangladesh recruitment agencies.
"What the minister (Saravanan) said seems to be an attempt to use political rhetoric to justify the decision.
"The Home Ministry controls how many workers are allowed into Malaysia, and so the number of sending agencies should be irrelevant," said Hall.
Malaysiakini has contacted Saravanan and Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar for comments.
On behalf of Baira, Shameem said the 2,000 agencies figure cited by Saravanan was based on "misinformation".
He pointed out all existing Bangladesh recruitment agencies have been sending workers to other receiving countries, while Malaysia had similarly entered into less restrictive agreements with sending countries such as Nepal and Indonesia.
Yesterday, Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz, while debating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Bill 2021 in Parliament, reportedly proposed for Malaysia to broker government-to-government deals with source countries.
This was said to be part of efforts to improve its global rankings in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report.
Malaysia's downgrade to Tier 3, the worst tier of the report, came amid export sanctions and trade actions imposed over concerns linked to indicators of forced labour in its manufacturing and plantation sector.
This prompted the government to pledge reforms including a review of various recruitment fees and agreements. - Mkini
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