Government bans Bangladeshi workers again
Malaysiakini
Oct  6, 2006

Malaysia has once again banned workers from Bangladesh, just two months after lifting an earlier ban.

"For the time being we have decided to ban Bangladeshi workers again because we suspect they are entering the country without following the system set by the government," immigration department enforcement director Ishak Mohamed told AFP.

Ishak said Malaysian companies had been given the green light to bring 22,000 workers here, but none had arrived yet because the government feared unscrupulous Bangladeshi labour agents were attempting to "beat the system".

To prevent private agents from profiteering, Malaysia has set up an official recruiting agent - Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira Malaysia) - to handle the import of workers from Bangladesh.

Under the system, Malaysian companies hiring Bangladeshi workers have to pay US$1,200 per worker to the Malaysian agent, which covers the processing fees involved to bring them here.

"But to beat this system the agents in Bangladesh rather deal directly with the employers here to mark up the price, which is in violation of the government's system," Ishak said.

Government procedure

He said the ban would only be lifted once the recruitment problem was solved.

"We will wait until the 22,000 workers reach here by following the government's procedure, only then will the government lift the ban again," he said.

Malaysia in August lifted a ban on hiring foreign labourers from Bangladesh which had been in place since 1996.

Malaysia relies on foreign workers to power its construction and agriculture sectors, and they represent some 2.6 million of the country's 10.5 million workforce.