Malaysia will not extend deadline for Bangladeshi workers

Malaysia will not extend the entry period for Bangladeshi workers who missed the 31 May deadline to enter the country to work despite having approved work visas.

Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told local media that the period given was reasonable and announcements had also been made earlier.

Speaking to the media today (4 June), the Malaysian minister said employers had been given enough time to bring the workers.

"The announcement of the deadline for foreign workers [Bangladesh] to be brought in [to Malaysia] had already been announced earlier.

"When the date was set, we took into account the whole process starting from the approved quota, health check, getting a visa and arranging tickets… ," he said.

Besides, he said in the recent entry period between 28 to 31 May, which recorded the entry of more than 20,000 foreign workers, the Malaysian government found that they had obtained visa approval on the 11 November of last year.

"If the employer really needs [foreign] workers to pick fruit in the field [for example] and the visa has passed, get a ticket then come..so why do you have to wait until 31 May, which is such a long time.

"So, for now, we do not plan to extend that period, instead we accepted the entry of 20,000 [foreign workers recently]," he said.

Saifuddin said his party projected the influx of foreign workers to reach 2.6 million in December this year, which exceeded the target of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) by about 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Haznah Md Hashim will meet the State Minister for Expatriate Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury on Wednesday at his office.

Sources said the expat minister will further request the envoy to give a chance for stuck workers to go to their workplaces.