New jobs in Malaysia for Bangladeshis, including those 15 lakh who were supposed to be hired under a recent bilateral agreement, came to a halt with the south-east Asian country yesterday announcing suspension of fresh recruitment of foreign workers. “The Malaysian government has officially scrapped the plan to recruit new foreign workers, including 15 lakh Bangladeshis,” said Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday.
Bangladesh, on February 18, had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia to send 15 lakh workers there in three years under a government-to-government (G2G) plus system.
"Employers who need workers will have to apply to legalise existing foreigners in the country who are without work permits or whose permits have expired," Hamidi was reported as telling journalists after handing letters of appointments to new village chiefs in the Bagan Datoh parliamentary constituency in Malaysia yesterday. The Malaysian deputy prime minister was quoted as saying that employers had until June 30 to legalise such foreign workers.
"The government is bringing forward the deadline, from December 31, because employers continuously ignore the chances given to them. Instead, he said, the government is criticised and pressured,” the Malaysian deputy PM was cited as saying. “If they cannot hire anyone, they should get the Malaysian Employers' Federation, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, or the Malaysian Trade Union Congress to help them find locals to do the job,” Hamidi said, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam said he did not have any formal meeting with the Malaysian government in this regard. Shekil Chowdhury, chairperson of the Centre for NRB, said, “Such a decision of the Malaysian government will have a negative impact on Bangladeshi workers. We had a big market in Malaysia. Such a decision is disheartening.”
He, however, said that the Bangladesh government should remain ready whenever the Malaysian market opens again, as, he believes that the Malaysian government will reopen their market to take in foreign workers, because the country cannot run without the contribution of foreign workers.
“We'll have to wait till the Malaysian government reopens the market. We have many competitors such as India. The Bangladesh government has to remain ready so that whenever we get the opportunity, we can seize it,” he added.
Ali Haider Chowdhury, senior vice-president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), told reporters that there is nothing to be worried about.
“The process of taking manpower to Malaysia has been suspended, but it has not been stopped forever,” he added.
Earlier, only a day after the signing an MoU between Bangladesh and Malaysia over recruitment of 15 lakh Bangladeshi workers, on February 19, Malaysia decided to suspend recruitment of all foreign workers, including those from Bangladesh.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the suspension would enable the Government to reconsider the revised two-tier levy for foreign workers.
However, on February 21, Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot  said the deal on labour recruitment signed with Bangladesh on February 18 would not be affected by Malaysia's decision to suspend recruitment of foreign workers.