Malaysia refutes BD minister’s statement over 2 lakh BD workers recruitment

A claim by a Bangladesh Local Government State Minister that Malaysia plans to recruit around 200,000 Bangladeshi workers over the next six months does not represent the official position of the Bangladesh government, Malaysian government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil has said.

During his weekly press conference on Wednesday at Putrajaya, Fahmi said Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan had informed him that the statement was made by a junior minister and should not be treated as an official declaration by the Bangladesh government.

"It does not represent the official decision of the Bangladeshi government. That is what the Human Resources Minister informed me. So, it is not an official position," Fahmi said, according to Malaysia's New Straits Times.

The clarification came a day after Bangladesh's Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Junior Minister Mir Shahe Alam reportedly said Malaysia planned to recruit about 200,000 Bangladeshi workers over the next six months.

Shahe Alam said the workers would be recruited through companies approved by the Malaysian authorities, with the recruitment expected to begin in phases from the end of September and be completed within six months.

The reported plan follows Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's appeal to Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in June to consider reopening Malaysia's labour market to Bangladeshi workers.

Malaysia had restricted the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in 2024 following reports of exploitation, including debt bondage, forced labour and workers arriving in the country without the jobs they had been promised.