Cabinet approves MoU with Malaysia to send 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers

The approval came at the regular weekly cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Monday.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters after the meeting.

Under the process, he said, the Bangladeshi workers would be allowed to work in service, manufacturing and construction sectors in Malaysia apart from the lone plantation field.

Alam said that Bangladesh would now be enlisted as a source country while some guidelines have been prepared transparently for both the sides.

He said that at the very beginning of the process, the Malaysian government after verifying the demand and capacity of the employer in Malaysia would ensure the job security and other related facilities for the workers while there would be no interference of the middlemen.

The cabinet secretary said that the workers would be sent from the registered list of the database of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), and the lion share of the migration cost would be borne by the employer.

He said that the migration cost would vary from Tk 34,000 to Tk 37,000 subject to the fluctuation of the exchange rate.

He said that the appointment letters of the workers would be attested by the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia and would also be kept there while there would be no scope for appointment letter replacement or duplication.

Alam said that the salaries of the workers would be directly sent to the bank accounts of the workers while a Joint Working Group (JWG) would be in place under the G2G Plus process to conduct joint monitoring to protect workers' rights and their interests.

In this connection, he said that if there is any allegation, the JWG would initially try to settle it, if not, the matter would go up to the higher level.

The cabinet secretary said once the new MoU is signed and made effective, the previous MoU of 2012 and the protocol in 2014 would be annulled.

Besides, the new G2G Plus process also have provision of sending female workers to Malaysia.

Alam said the employer would bear the expenses of workers security deposit, biomedical fee, levy, visa fee, health insurance and compensation insurance.

He said that the Malaysian government would send relevant information and data to the BMET of Bangladesh after scrutinizing the demand of employers in Malaysia. On the contrary, the Bangladesh government would send the list of eligible recruiting agencies under the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) through online system.

"Later, the recruiting agencies would be selected through a transparent and accountable manner," he said. He said that the recruiting agencies would play a facilitating role like recruiting workers from the database of BMET, completion of agreement, biomedical of the workers, security verifying, visa processing, training and immigration activities.

Alam said through online system, the employer would know the necessary information regarding employees selection and then send the appointment letters to Bangladesh High Commission for attestation.

On completion of the necessary formalities, he said, the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka would make arrangements for visa stumping into the passports of Bangladeshi workers.

Answering to a question, the cabinet secretary said that since the previous G2G process did not get enough response, the government went for the G2G Plus process involving the recruiting agencies. "We hope that this process would be much more transparent and accountable," he said.

He told another questioner that the proposed MoU is likely to be signed within one month.

Alam said the cabinet elaborately discussed the draft of "The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Law, 2016" and took a decision that a committee headed by the Principal Secretary would place it before the cabinet again after further scrutiny.

The cabinet secretary said the meeting was apprised of the participation of a Bangladesh delegation led by the commerce minister in the "Bengal Global Summit" held in Kolkata on January 8-9 and "The Partnership Summit" held in Andhra Pradesh in India on January 10-12.

Besides, he said, the participation of the education minister on behalf of the Prime Minister in the Leaders Forum of the 38th General Meeting of the UNESCO held in Paris on November 16-18 last was also apprised.

Ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while secretaries concerned were present.