Manpower-recruiting agencies from Bangladesh and Malaysia jointly expressed concerns over possible syndication in sending workers to Malaysia.
They sought equal opportunities for all licensed recruiting agencies in sending workers to Malaysia as the labour-receiving country has recently made a deal on recruitment of workers with Bangladesh.
The demands were placed at a press conference at a city hotel on Thursday. Malaysian recruiters joined the event virtually.
Delivering a written speech, Abul Bashar, former president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said despite the government assurance that no syndication would be allowed, a group of 25 manpower agencies were trying to create a syndicate.
This is to mention that the Malaysian market was resumed for Bangladeshi workers with the involvement of a 10-member syndicate back in 2016. But it was closed by the Malaysian government within one and a half years because of malpractices.
As a result, Bangladeshi workers were deprived of employment opportunities in the Southeast Asian country, said Mr Bashar.
Meanwhile, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding on December 19, 2021 to hire manpower from Bangladesh in different sectors.
Following that, a group of 25 recruiting agencies are currently trying their best to establish a monopoly in sending workers to Malaysia, he said.
If the evil plan gets successful, the potential market may be closed again while workers will be exploited in many ways, observed the former BAIRA president.
Mr Bashar said they would provide the list of 25-member syndicate to the government.
Bangladesh as a sovereign country should also be allowed the same facilities as other 14 countries, for instance, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Pakistan, which can send their workers to Malaysia without involvement of any such syndicate, he added.
Joining the event virtually, Malaysian Association of Private Employers General Secretary Sukumar Nair said that the new initiative of syndication or manipulation would destroy the market again and hamper the relations between the two friendly countries.
Mr Nair said they did not support the initiative.
BAIRA's former president and managing director of Unique Eastern Pvt Ltd Noor Ali, and former secretaries-general Ali Haider Chowdhury and Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman were present at the event.
