Malaysia has suspended manpower recruitment through the existing system from Bangladesh after allegations of human trafficking emerged.
The Star Online in Kuala Lumpur (KL) on Friday reported the government of Malaysia has suspended the 'Government to Government (G2G) Plus' system currently in place for the recruitment of migrant workers from Bangladesh.
"This suspension will last until a full investigation has been completed into allegations that a syndicate was operating it as a human trafficking scheme to exploit these workers," the Malaysian human resources minister told the Star newspaper.
Until then, Malaysia would go back to the old system so that the application process could be managed by the government, the minister added.
But officials at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (EWOE) in Dhaka told the FE that they had not received any formal notification from the Malaysian side yet.
He said the whole process was "a total mess," with migrant workers paying exorbitant amounts of money to several middlemen in both Bangladesh and Malaysia.
The Star also reported that an organised trafficking syndicate, led by a Bangladeshi businessman with alleged political connections with the Malaysian home ministry, is involved in the malpractice.
He raked in at least two billion Malaysian ringgits in just two years from Bangladeshi workers looking to secure jobs in the Southeast Asian country.
The workers paid RM 20,000 (Tk 4.0 lakh) each to their local agents who then paid half of the sum to the syndicate to have work permit approvals and flight tickets to Malaysia, said the report.
Bangladeshi businessman, who has a "Datuk Seri" title, was the mastermind behind the organised "multibillion-ringgit human trafficking scam".
The newspaper did not reveal the name of the "Datuk Seri", but added that due to his strong political influence both in Malaysia and Bangladesh, he was instrumental in getting the two countries sign the G2G Plus agreement.
The report said only 10 Bangladeshi recruitment agents got the right to recruit migrant workers, leaving out the remaining 1,000 agencies.
Contacted, Aminul Islam, additional secretary of the ministry, said the Malaysian authorities have not formally informed any such development to them.
He said the outflow of workers may come down for a short period because of the suspension.
If any new system is introduced, the outflow of workers may increase again, he added.
"Bangladeshi workers have goodwill worldwide. So the demand for our workers will not be reduced due to such a move," he said.
Joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman said they do not want to see any kinds of irregularities in this process.
"We welcome such a move," said Mr Noman.
They are against any syndication, he said.
But he underlined the need for ensuring that the migration cost does not increase in the new process while the outflow remains intact.
Migrant rights activists do not favour such a syndicated system.
Any monopoly business cannot be accepted, said Shakirul Islam, chairman of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program, or OKUP.
"So the Bangladesh government should cooperate with its Malaysian counterpart to complete the investigation," he said
The G2G plus deal has been criticised by experts and rights campaigners since its inception in 2016, he noted.
More than 100,000 Bangladeshis went to Malaysia after the new agreement was signed.
About 30,000 workers are also in the process to go to the country, sector insiders said.
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