Thousands of migrant workers from Bangladesh rushed to beat a hard Friday deadline for new labourers to enter Malaysia, but many more are shut out from being able to work in the Southeast Asian country and send millions of dollars in crucial remittances despite paying exorbitant fees to agents for visas.

The May 31 hard deadline was announced after tens of thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers fell victim to an elaborate labour scam in Malaysia, each paying up to US $5,000 upfront for jobs that did not exist once they arrived in the country.

That forced them to seek work illegally to pay their travel debts or overstay their visas, leaving them vulnerable to detention by immigration authorities, trafficking and labour exploitation, after paying hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of what the UN describes as criminal syndicates in both Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Malaysia’s Immigration Department Director-General Ruslin Jusoh said there was about a four-fold increase in arrivals of foreign workers over the last week.

“Normally, about 500 to 1,000 foreign workers would arrive daily. However, the number increased to 2,500 a day on May 22 and between 4,000 and 4,500 daily on May 27,” he said on Thursday.

Arriving on a Friday morning flight with thousands of others making the last-minute dash to beat the cut-off point, Habibur Rahman from Chittagong said he was relieved at making it to Malaysia, where he hoped to make money to send home.

“Alhamdulillah [Praise be to God], I will be working in Penang, factory work,” he told This Week in Asia.

But labour activists warn the criminal syndicates behind the bogus job offers in Malaysia have not been eradicated, meaning new arrivals remain at risk of forced labour and other forms of exploitation.

“Many of these workers are at high risk of modern slavery,” said Andy Hall, an independent migrant worker rights specialist who has researched the issue extensively.

They “will surely be arriving to bogus employers on bogus quotas with no jobs, facilitated by corrupt government officials, agencies and recruitment intermediaries.”

The sudden influx of arrivals at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport has also caused consternation among Malaysians who have divided opinions about the migrant workforce they depend on across many sectors. Many Malaysians were unaware of the impending deadline and were shocked by scenes of chaos at the main international gateway to the country.

An online video of the massive crowd at the airport showing Bangladeshis hurrying to beat Malaysia’s entry deadline - and seen by over 600,000 people - drew harsh criticism from the public, who question why more migrant workers are entering the country.

Malaysia has set a target cap for its intake of new migrant workers at 2.55 million as it tries to wean itself from its decades-long reliance on foreign labour.

Apart from those from Bangladesh, migrant workers from Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia also helped staff restaurants, construction sites and palm oil plantations across Malaysia.

Calling the treatment of scammed migrants “unsustainable and undignified,” the UN last month urged Malaysian authorities to protect the mainly Bangladeshi migrants who had fallen into debt bondage.

“We received reports that certain high-level officials in both governments are involved in this business or condoning it,” the UN labour experts said in an April 19 statement. “This is unacceptable and needs to end.”

Low-skilled migrant workers - known as ‘remittance warriors’ in Bangladesh - sent back nearly US$2 billion in April alone, according to Bangladesh’s central bank data.

Malaysia is ranked the sixth most important destination for Bangladesh’s migrant worker sector, accounting for US$132 million per month in remittances while the United Arab Emirates ranks top with US$300 million to US$400 million per month.

Source: South China Morning Post

BDST: 1406 HRS, MAY 31, 2024
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