Baira leaders ask Malaysian minister to allow all recruiters to send workers    

A delegation of the Bangladesh International Recruiting Agency (Baira), led by its former president Mohammed Noor Ali, has met with Malaysian Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Majah Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin.

They met and exchanged views during an event held at a Dhaka hotel on Saturday, reads a Baira press release.

During the discussion, the association urged the Malaysian minister to allow all licenced Bangladeshi recruiting agencies to send workers to her country.                     

Immediate past secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former joint secretary Mizanur Rahman, and finance secretary Fakhrul Islam were part of the delegation.

In response, the minister said that poor migrant workers will not be required to pay any money (zero migration cost) for entering Malaysia.                                        

She then remarked that her ministry will ensure the welfare, salary, accommodation, health and other essential facilities for Bangladeshi workers as per the ILO guidelines.

Later, Baira leaders told Datuk Majah Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin that they are fully prepared to meet the migrant workers' demand in Malaysian companies.                                         

A debate over syndication in labour recruitment in Malaysia is swirling around, especially after Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard on December 19.

At the heart of the debate is the syndicate of 25 Bangladeshi agents and 250 subagents mentioned by Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan in a letter to Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad on January 14.                                              

However, the Bangladeshi recruiters appreciated the letter sent by the expatriates' welfare minister to the Malaysian government proposing open recruitment from all the authorised agencies of Bangladesh on January 18.