Bangladesh starts sending workers to Brunei on G2G basis

Infographics: TBS

The official migration process of Bangladeshi workers to Brunei has begun, with the first batch of around 50 workers expected to move to the Southeast Asian country within the first week of May.

The state-run recruiting agency Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL) is deploying workers to Brunei via a government-to-government agreement, a task previously managed by private agencies.

According to BOESL officials, the migration process began on 1 March with costs ranging between Tk44,000 and Tk56,000.

Brunei is now hiring both skilled and less skilled workers from Bangladesh for masonry, house painting, carpentry, construction labour, chefs and waiters, as well as kitchen assistance.

ABM Abdul Halim, general manager of BOESL, told TBS, "Employers in Brunei are recruiting workers through their local agencies rather than hiring them directly. The BOESL has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 36 such agencies in Brunei, and 10 of them have commenced the recruitment process.

"Around 50 workers are expected to migrate to Brunei by the end of this month or the first week of May. While the demand has been relatively modest thus far, we anticipate a steady increase in the number of workers heading there in the upcoming months."

According to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), Brunei hired 77,958 Bangladeshi workers between 1992 and January this year.

On average, 5,000 Bangladeshis were employed per year before the Covid pandemic while only 3,473 workers were recruited by Brunei between January 2020 and January 2024.

According to unofficial estimates, around 25,000 Bangladeshi workers are currently doing jobs in various sectors, including construction, cleaning, restaurants, and oil and gas in Brunei.

Many of these migrant workers allegedly endure physical and mental challenges, including imprisonment and financial penalties, as a result of exploitation by human traffickers and illicit middlemen.

During the state visit of Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to Bangladesh, an MoU was signed by Bangladesh's expatriates' welfare and overseas employment minister and Brunei's home affairs minister in the presence of the prime minister of Bangladesh and the sultan of Brunei Darussalam on 16 October 2022.

It is expected that this newly launched process will be effective in recruiting workers from Bangladesh to Brunei at a safe and controlled cost with transparency to prevent any kind of fraudulence and human trafficking.

Abu Bakkar Siddique, first secretary (Labour) of the Labour Welfare Wing at the Bangladesh embassy in Brunei, told TBS, "As per the MoU in 2022, only BOESL currently has the authority to send workers, not private agencies."

"Although Brunei is a small country, a limited number of Bangladeshi workers find employment opportunities here on a regular basis. In Brunei, we aim to ensure that workers receive a minimum wage of 600 Brunei dollars (equivalent to Tk50,000), which surpasses the average salaries offered in the Middle East or Malaysia."

Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), said, "Brunei has been a long-standing labour market for Bangladeshis, having opened its doors to us in 1992. Although it is not as expansive as Middle Eastern markets, Brunei holds significance as workers there can earn comparable wages to those in Singapore."

However, he expressed discontent over the fact that private agencies have lost the opportunity to send workers to the country. 

Dismissing allegations of an imposition of high migration costs, Shamim Chowdhury Noman said the authorities should penalise the agencies responsible for such imposition. 

"However, it is unfair to penalise all 2,500 registered agencies. The BOESL alone cannot match the capacity of multiple private agencies in sending workers abroad," he added.