The government has dismissed media reports that Malaysia deported over 300 workers Friday after cancelling 55,000 Bangladeshi visas Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
According to the officer-in-charge of the Immigration Department at Zia International Airport, only 25 workers were sent back as they did not have passports.
Expatriates Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharaf Hossain said the return was a 'routine trend'.
"We have no information about the deportation of 300 people from Malaysia."
"Only 25 people having no legal passports returned home," Eliza Sharmin, one of the officers in charge of the immigration wing at the airport, said Friday.
"I don't have any information about deportation of 300 people as reported by some media," she said.
She clarified if Malaysia deported any worker, the immigration department would be the first to know.
The immigration department also counts how many people without passport were sent back.
"Every day around 400 workers come from Malaysia to visit their near and dear ones. And this is a regular trend," said Sharmin.
"This is regular arrival, not deportation. Deportation means forceful return," she said.
Private television channels and some dailies reported Friday that Malaysia had deported 300 workers.
"About six lakh people live in Malaysia. This is not unusual if 300-400 people return every day to visit their homes," the minister said.
Malaysia Wednesday cancelled 55,000 working visas for Bangladeshis as global economic crisis hit the Southeast Asian nation.
According to foreign ministry figures, about five lakh legal Bangladeshis live in Malaysia, the second largest destination of Dhaka's manpower export.
Saudi Arabia is Bangladesh's biggest manpower market where some 20 lakh Bangladeshis work.
Bangladesh, heavily dependent on foreign remittances, fears a slide in remittance as global economic recession is likely to squeeze Bangladesh's manpower export markets.
