TDS Desk:      

The names of influential people including Parliamentarians (Members of Parliament – MPs) have emerged in the control of the Malaysian labor market.

Lastly, about 30,000 workers have become victims of fraud by their agency, from whom thousands of crores of taka have been stolen.

Friday (May 31) was the last day to enter Malaysia. Thousands of workers did not get their desired tickets despite waiting from dawn till midnight after getting the approval. More than 30,000 workers could not go to Malaysia due to agencies’ negligence and fraud.

A victim named Abu Bakkar of Rajshahi’s Bagmara said that he handed over all his life savings of Tk 6 lakhs to the travel agency, Phuang Travels Agency. His son Tofail was supposed to go to Malaysia on May 31. But upon entering the immigration, it was found that “the ticket given by the agency was fake”. The recruiting agency did not answer even after repeated calls.

Anwar of Gauripur, Mymensingh, on the other hand, dreamed of changing his fortune by selling his land and mother’s jewelry. However, the dream of 17 people including him turned into a nightmare in the cycle of fake tickets.

Although the sufferings of thousands of workers are reported in the media, the officials of BAIRA, BMET, Biman or all the related organizations play the role of “silent spectators”. However, as per the quota of the Malaysian government, they collect an average of Tk 5 lakh from 5 lakh workers.

Four current and former MPs are doing business with the Malaysian labor market. Awami League lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari, elected from Feni, took the license of the recruiting agency in December 2018 to send workers abroad. His company — Snigdha Overseas Limited – sent only 100 workers abroad in 3.5 years after taking the license. However, after joining the “Malaysia Syndicate” or the cycle, 7,869 workers went to Malaysia in the name of Nizam Hazari’s agency in the last 1.5 years. Snigdha Overseas is ranked number 4 in the list of agencies that send the most workers to Malaysia.

Two more MPs and two members of a parliamentarian’s family have recruiting agencies in this cycle. They are – ‘Five M International’ of MP Lieutenant General (Retd.) Masud Uddin Chowdhury, elected from Feni-3 seat, and ‘Ahmed International’ of MP Benzir Ahmed of Dhaka-20. Former Finance Minister and current Member of Parliament AHM Mustafa Kamal’s wife Kashmiri Kamal’s ‘Orbitals Enterprise’ and daughter Nafisa Kamal’s ‘Orbitals International’ – Mustafa Kamal founded ‘Orbitals Enterprise’ in 1979.

‘Ahmed International’ enters the Malaysian circle and moves to the top list, where 7,849 workers went to Malaysia through the institution.

During the time of the creation of the circle, MP Benzir Ahmed was the president of BAIRA (Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies), an organization of recruiting agencies.

On the other hand, a total of 9,861 people went to Malaysia in the name of Orbitals Enterprise and Orbitals International. AHM Mustafa Kamal was in charge of the Finance Minister at the time of the formation of the fraud cycle.

Besides, Awami League leaders, city corporation councilors and many new organizations in this sector are sending a large number of workers by involving in this fraud cycle.

When Malaysia’s labor market opened in July 2022 after nearly four years of closure, Malaysia was tasked with selecting recruiting agencies to send workers. The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment sent them a list of 1,520 recruiting agencies. However, only 25 were selected. There was no policy in choosing the agency. There are many allegations of “influence peddling” and “bribery” in this regard. Source: Daily Bangladesh