Malaysia to recruit 1.5 million Bangladeshis

Malaysia will recruit 1.5 million Bangladeshis over the next three years under the G2G Plus scheme.

The cabinet approved the draft of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia regarding the migration under the G2G Plus scheme on Monday afternoon.

After cabinet meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed the reporters at the secretariat.

He said Bangladesh and Malaysia signed MoU within this month.

He also said per Bangladeshi expatriate will have to spent a total of Tk34,000 to Tk37,000 as migration cost under the G2G Plus scheme.

Under the scheme, Malaysia would recruit Bangladeshi workers in construction, service, manufacturing and agriculture sectors; earlier, hirings were done only for plantations.

Last September, a six-member Malaysian delegation led by the secretary general of the country’s Ministry of Human Resources, Saripuddin Bin Hj Kasim, visited Bangladesh to attend the sixth joint working group meeting with the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

After the meeting Minister Nurul Islam quoted the delegation as saying that the migration cost would be Tk36,000-Tk37,000 if anyone is recruited via Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training; but for migration through private recruiters, the amount was going to be Tk60,000.

Malaysian government’s recruitment of Bangladeshi workers stopped in 2008 for high migration costs and forgery by local migration recruiters. According to the government, 131,762 Bangladeshi workers went to Malaysia in 2008.

Source: Dhaka Tribune