A section of manpower recruiters have started lobbying the Bangladesh mission in Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian employers for special advantage as Malaysia started working to introduce a new recruitment system, sources said.
Such a move by the manpower agencies in this stage may create adverse impact on the job market abroad as they are trying to create a scope for 'visa trading', which will basically push up the migration cost, sector insiders said.
Many private manpower recruiters have gathered in Kuala Lumpur to make a contact with the Bangladesh High Commission so that they can obtain demand letters for workers in the new recruitment system.
They are also negotiating with Malaysian employers to make a deal on providing workers, which will benefit both the parties, the sources said.
An official of the ministry of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment, wishing not to be named, said they have already alerted the Bangladesh mission to such activities of manpower recruiters.
Recently, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam requested the workers not to give money to manpower recruiters before the announcement of the new hiring system.
Contacted, Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said it is very unfortunate that a section of recruiters have started lobbying the employers even before introduction of the new system.
"All manpower recruiters will have to be patient, as it is a very important market for Bangladeshi workers," he said.
The authorities concerned also have to remain alert to such malpractices, he added.
The Malaysian government has stopped issuing fresh demand letters for Bangladeshi workers since September 1 following alleged syndication through the online recruitment system known as 'Sistem Pengambilan Pekerja Asing (SPPA)' under the government to government (G2G) plus deal.
Malaysia has also recently taken a move to bring changes to its manpower hiring policy.
To this end, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur have also started working on amendments to the G2G plus deal signed two years ago.
Recently, a joint working committee meeting held in Malaysia's Putrajaya decided to permit all eligible manpower recruiting agencies to send workers to the Southeast Asian country.
Under the G2G plus deal, only 10 recruiting agencies were allowed to send workers to Malaysia.
About 0.2 million Bangladeshi workers went to Malaysia through SPPA since the signing of G2G plus deal.
Currently, approximately 0.9 million Bangladeshi workers are staying there, sources said.
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