Govt to take action over failure in sending workers to Malaysia: PM Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (5 June) told Parliament that the government will take action against those who are responsible for the recent failure to send migrant workers to Malaysia.

"We're definitely investigating what problems occurred this time. If anyone is responsible, they will surely be tried," she said.

The premier said this while responding to a supplementary question from Opposition Chief Whip Mujibul Haque Chunnu during the question-answer session in the house.

Earlier the Parliament went into the budget session at around 5:07pm with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

In the supplementary question, the Jatiya Party lawmaker said the fate of many Malaysia-bound Bangladeshi workers are uncertain and some 17,000 workers couldn't be sent by 31 May deadlines despite having everything including permission ready for them.

He also highlighted the creation of a nexus in sending migrant workers to Malaysia saying that Malaysia receives manpower from 14 countries and in the case of all the countries except Bangladesh, all agencies having licenses can send manpower. In the case of only Bangladesh, several fixed agencies do it.

Mujibul Haque wanted to know If harsh action will be taken against those who are responsible for it, he said.

In reply, the prime minister said the government had introduced special flights to send workers to Malaysia.

"All workers were sent (to Malaysia) through special flights and other regular flights. But many were left out. The reason (behind not being able to go to Malaysia) will be investigated," she said.

"Whenever we discuss and decide how many people will go, then it can be seen that a group of people in our country, who deal with manpower, try to send people in a hurry," she said.

Highlighting the various steps taken by the government to send workers abroad, Hasina said some people want to go abroad through brokers. They get into trouble.

In replying to a question from Awami League lawmaker Mahfizur Rahman, the prime minister said experts have opined that traffic congestion in Dhaka city and its consequential effects are causing annual losses of about $3.8 billion.

"This money will be saved if the Metrorail lines are launched under the Time-bound Action Plan 2030 and the opportunity will be created to fully invest the money in the economy," she added.

The prime minister said a study has found that after the completion of the entire section of MRT Line-6, during the operation of the metro rail, about Tk8.38 crore will be saved in terms of daily Travel Time Cost and about Tk1.18 crore in terms of Vehicle Operation Cost.

In reply to a query of AL lawmaker Faridun Nahar Laily, the premier said it is unfortunate that "we are noticing--a certain clique, especially the communal and war criminal clique and the BNP-Jamaat" are constantly spreading rumours through social media.

"A large part of them is located in different developed countries. They are mainly spreading false and distorted news against Bangladesh and the current government through social media like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube."

Legal, technical and diplomatic steps have been taken at home and abroad to stop these misinformation and rumours, she added.

She said her government has a plan to create a separate 'Cyber Police Unit' keeping in view the current scenario in safe cyberspace and combating cybercrime.