PETALING JAYA: With no jobs, meagre accommodation, and mounting debt, hundreds of Bangladeshi migrant workers’ dreams of a better future in Malaysia have turned into a nightmare.
Despite their pleas for help, their plight remains unresolved, leaving them in distress.
Infuriated with their living conditions, around 120 Bangladeshi migrant workers gathered at the Bangladesh High Commission in the sweltering heat yesterday seeking a resolution.
A spokesman for the workers who wished to be identified as Abraham said workers had not been given jobs upon their arrival in February or paid any allowance in the last four months.
“They (Bangladeshi workers) came here and their accommodations are not appropriate. Even some of the accommodation don’t have proper sanitation (facilities). Their situation is very bad.
“No one can imagine the environment of their living area, no jobs, no money, and no food to survive,” he told FMT.
Abraham said as many as 600 Bangladeshi migrant workers came into the country through four different companies in the belief that they would get jobs as housekeepers in Genting Highlands. However, they are currently cooped up in a small hostel in Nilai, Seremban.
Some workers claimed to have received RM200 from a company representative, hardly enough to tide them through the four months they have been in Malaysia.
“(The workers) are frustrated and depressed because they took out loans from relatives, banks and sold land to come here,” said Abraham, adding that their sacrifice seemed to have been for nothing.
He said the workers also had to pay exorbitant recruitment fees ranging from RM20,000 to RM25,000.
Abraham said the workers voiced their grievances to Bangladesh High Commission officials and asked for help to secure job placements and financial compensation from their employers.
Later in the day, Abraham said an employer from one of the companies met with an official at the high commission and agreed that they would arrange jobs for the workers and pay them one month’s salary within 10 days.
FMT has asked the Bangladesh High Commission for comment.
In April, the high commission said Putrajaya’s approval process for the recruitment of migrant workers lacked transparency, leading to many workers being left unemployed. It said the labour department holds responsibility to ensure the legal rights of all domestic and migrant workers.
Reuters reported that the labour department has promised to take action against recruitment agencies and companies found to have misused government quotas and licences for hiring migrant workers, leaving them stranded without jobs. - FMT
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