Migrant Welfare Network (MWN), a platform of Bangladeshi migrant workers, formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday, demanding drastic cut in Bangladesh-Malaysia labour migration cost and the abolition of recruitment syndicates.
The group also submitted an open letter to the Prime Minister Tarique Rahman ahead of his upcoming state visit to Malaysia next week. The demands were raised during the human chain. Following the programme, MWN leaders read out an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister.
In the letter, MWN said Bangladesh is the only labour-sending country to Malaysia where recruitment remains restricted to a small group of selected agencies, creating a syndicate-based system that encourages corruption, monopoly practices and worker exploitation.
They form a human chain in front of National Press Club ahead of Prime Minister’s visit to Kuala Lumpur
The organisation claimed that many Bangladeshi workers pay up to Tk 600,000 to secure jobs in Malaysia, despite the government-approved migration cost being around Tk 78,990. Many workers reportedly take high-interest loans or mortgage family assets to finance their migration.
MWN also highlighted various forms of abuse faced by migrant workers in Malaysia, including passport confiscation, unpaid or reduced wages, excessive working hours, overcrowded accommodation, false job promises, irregular outsourcing practices and difficulties in changing employers or seeking justice.
The organisation said many workers who migrate legally later become undocumented through no fault of their own, leaving them vulnerable to detention, extortion, deportation and forced labour.
Referring to international concerns, MWN noted that several United Nations bodies and international organisations, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Human Rights Watch, have raised concerns about the treatment of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia.
Among its key demands, MWN called for replacing the current Bangladesh-Malaysia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a binding bilateral labour agreement, dismantling recruitment syndicates, regularising undocumented workers, ensuring payment of unpaid wages and compensation, preventing forced labour and passport confiscation, and improving services and accountability at the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
The organisation also urged the government to establish a permanent and transparent mechanism under the Prime Minister's Office to address migrant workers' complaints and migration governance issues.
MWN said sustainable reform would not be possible unless recruitment syndicates are dismantled, describing them as the root cause of repeated migration crises, debt bondage and labour exploitation in the Bangladesh-Malaysia migration corridor.
