Malaysia to take in 200,000 workers from Bangladesh in 6 months

 Bangladeshi junior minister says recruitment will be carried out by various agencies, commencing in phases from end-September.

Putrajaya has restricted the hiring of workers from Bangladesh since 2024 amid reports of debt bondage and forced labour. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Malaysia will hire around 200,000 migrant workers from Bangladesh over the next six months, with recruitment to be carried out by various agencies, according to Dhaka.

Bangladeshi local government, rural development and cooperatives junior minister Mir Shahe Alam said the recruitment would commence in phases from end-September.

“There are about 800,000 registered Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. There are some who are unregistered.

“Our minister has asked the Malaysian authorities to register them,” he said, according to The Daily Star.

He was speaking to reporters after Malaysia’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, Shuhada Othman, met local government, rural development and cooperatives minister Abdul Moyeen Khan.

In June, Bangladeshi prime minister Tarique Rahman visited Malaysia and urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to consider reopening the labour market to Bangladeshi migrant workers.

Putrajaya has restricted the hiring of workers from Bangladesh since 2024 amid reports of debt bondage and forced labour.

The government hopes to reduce the number of foreign workers in Malaysia to around 10% of the total workforce by 2030. - FMT