BD-born Malaysian, Dato Amin, deprives workers of rich potential of sector

A Bangladeshi origin Malaysian citizen is controlling Bangladeshi manpower export business using MiGRAMS, an online registration portal for workers' health screening.

A worker has to collect calling visa and then collect e-Visa, and the attestation from the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to fly to Malaysia. But he needs a health screening report first as a pre-requisite of getting the calling visa.  

For performing the health screening a worker need to be registered in MiGRAMS system by paying 100 ringgit registration fee.

Recruiting agencies complete this registration process and pay the fee of the workers. Upon paying the fees recruiting agents get credit as like a prepaid system. Credits deposited in "top-up e-wallet" segment of MiGRAMS portal.  

Now the top-up e-wallet option for paying registration fee is erased from the portal by Bestinet.     

This manipulation is depriving Bangladeshi workers from entering Malaysian labour market which causes a serious threat to this sector's rich potential.

Along with the workers dozens of agencies who have a good reputation and track record in manpower export are facing an image crisis. And thousands of Bangladeshi workers are suffering.

Malaysian government assigned online system provider Bestinet who owns the MiGRAMS. Bangladeshi origin Dato Aminul Islam Bin Abdul Nor is the owner of Bestinet and recklessly created obstacle for Bangladeshi agencies and controlling the whole system.

At this stage Bestinet is allocating credit only to those agencies that are in his syndicate. Thus many recruiting agencies are being deprived despite having adequate demand for workers.

Insiders claimed that Dato Aminul with his Bangladeshi Partners are illegally collecting more than RM 100 from each worker in Bangladesh. Thus, they are earning extra money from the poor Bangladeshi migration aspirant workers.

"Nothing can be done if MiGRAMS registration is not done. We wrote to Bestinet, Expatriates Welfare Ministry in Bangladesh and Human Resource Ministry of Malaysia. We hope the authorities concern will take appropriate actions to break the malpractices, said Mahbub Miah Babul, proprietor of Darbar Global Overseas.

"Apart from access problem to e-wallet, there are some problems we face with the MiGRAMS. Very often a worker needs to perform health screening as MiGRAMS authority consider it was not done properly. In this case each time we have to pay RM 100 for the same worker, he added.

Many Bangladeshi recruiting agencies failed to find the e-wallet option in the MiGRAMS system from mid-January this year. Later on May 2, recruiting agencies wrote to the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed to solve the problem.

On top of that Malaysian Human Resource Ministry wrote to Bestinet several times in between March 3, March 7 and March 8 to make top up e-wallet service open for all. But Bestinet did not do that. Later in March 20, in a letter Malaysian Human Resource Ministry warned Bestinet and said that the Ministry received complaints that Bangladeshi recruiting agencies are still unable to use the service.

"The Ministry hopes that this is the last letter submitted to Bestinet regarding this matter. The Ministry is very concerned about this matter because it does not support the implementation of the Bangladesh Employment MoU concluded by the two countries to run smoothly and to achieve the goals desired by the both countries.

"Requesting your immediate cooperation to take appropriate action against this complain" the Ministry letter read.

Latter on March 22, April 2 and April 16,  Bangladeshi recruiting agencies send email to Bestinet seeking the opportunity to pay the registration fee.

"There are two types of problems of paying registration fees from Bangladesh. Firstly, there is no legal way to send money to a Malaysian company from Bangladesh. And the second problem is the Bestinet is not providing top-up to the agencies who are not the member of the racket created by its owner Dato Amin,  said Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury, owner of Sadia International.

Shamim also the former secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said, "As per MoU signed between Malaysia and Bangladesh all expense in Malaysian part including system provider's fees will be borne by the employer. And Health Screening should be done by the Bangladeshi medical centres under the supervision of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.

"The whole process of sending manpower to Malaysia became hostage to the Bestinet in MiGRAMS registration, he added.