25 agents, 250 sub-agents sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia – sources

 

A list of 25 Bangladesh Recruitment Agents (BRAs) and 250 sub-agents are expected to be involved in recruiting new workers bound for Malaysia, according to sources familiar with bilateral negotiations leading up to a new agreement signed by both governments.

Malaysiakini sighted a document with a chart that outlined the proposed process and procedure on the recruitment and repatriation of Bangladesh workers.

According to the document, various stages of the recruitment process, starting from the application by employers to procedures upon arrival, will be done through Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) operated by Bestinet Sdn Bhd.

Under a section titled "Quota Auto Allocation to BRA and Engaging BRA", it is stated that workers to Malaysia will be recruited from a list of 25 main BRAs supported by 250 sub-BRAs, to be automatically selected by FWCMS.

It also stated that a Malaysian employer can directly liaise with the chosen BRA or appoint a Malaysian agent to facilitate the recruitment process.

Last Dec 19, Human Resource Minister M Saravanan and Bangladesh's Expatriates' and Overseas Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed had signed a new five-year labour recruitment agreement that lifted a freeze imposed since Sept 1, 2018, under the then Pakatan Harapan government.

Saravanan, however, did not disclose specific terms of the MOU, including recruitment costs and whether there has been a limit set on the number of Bangladesh recruitment agencies permitted to send their workers to Malaysia.

Malaysiakini understands that negotiations on the final terms had continued after the signing, including in Bangladesh where there were concerns that the recruitment process would be dominated by BRAs with alleged connections to well-placed individuals in Malaysia.

A day before the signing ceremony in Putrajaya, Imran had reaffirmed Dhaka's objection to syndicates allegedly formed by a select list of agencies permitted to carry out the recruitment process

He was responding to concerns raised by the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) which at the time requested an equal opportunity for all of its nearly 1,600 members to be allowed to send workers to Malaysia.

Disclose MOU terms

In Malaysia, migrant rights group Tenaganita were among those who had urged the government to disclose the MOU terms, raising concerns over the possible revival of an alleged "syndicate" which had in the past been attributed to high recruitment costs and other labour abuses.

The previous agreement suspended by the then Pakatan Harapan administration had involved 10 BRAs and their associates.

Tenaganita director Joseph Paul Maliamauv

When contacted, Tenaganita director Joseph Paul Maliamauv said he was informed the figure has been increased to 25 main agents and 250 sub-agents.

"However we can't confirm this number because the MOU terms are not made public," he told Malaysiakini.

Meanwhile, migrant workers rights specialist Andy Hall said there were issues with how BRAs were selected to be on the approved list, alleging abuse of political powers in Bangladesh and Malaysia at the expense of migrant workers and employers.

"If the manpower agencies were chosen through a transparent open tender process, based on their proven track record to professionally deliver ethical recruitment and value for money, that would be acceptable and commendable also.

"But this is not the case here," claimed Hall.

Without more transparency in the process, Hall said the new recruitment process risks being a revival of past schemes that ultimately contributed to issues of debt bondage and labour exploitation.

'Minister mum on details'

Separately, the online portal Free Malaysia Today reported Saravanan as saying that it was not common practice to disclose terms of government MOUs.

"When have MOUs ever been made public? In this country, when have MOUs ever been made public? Some people are taking a special interest (in the MOU). I don’t know why. Is there something more to this?" he was quoted as saying in Putrajaya.

"I've been in the government for almost 15 years as a deputy minister and a minister (and) we have never disclosed the details of MoUs," Saravanan added after a Socso event.

Amid the uncertainties, Saravanan in a statement today said an announcement would be made soon for new hirings of migrant workers in all approved sectors from all approved source countries.

"In this matter, I would like to advise employers to not make any payments to middlemen or third parties to expedite the process.

"This is to prevent them from being cheated by any irresponsible parties," he said. - Mkini