Malaysian migration-deprived must file complaints by June 8

Aspiring expatriate workers who could not fly to Malaysia by the deadline will be able to take their complaints to the government, reports bdnews24.com.

A public notice from the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment on Tuesday included instructions on how to file the complaints.

The aspiring expatriate workers must submit their full information and their allegations accordingly by June 8, the notice said.

The claimant must send their name, full address, mobile number, the name of their recruiting agency, their passport number, a copy of their Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training smart card, and any information and details relating to their allegations to the [email protected] address.

The notice did not clarify what action the ministry would take after it received these allegation reports.

The Malaysian government announced that May 31 was the last day for Bangladeshi workers on work visas to enter the country. No one with a work visa would be allowed to enter after the deadline.

The fare on the route to Malaysia, with the help of some agencies, was driven up from Tk 30,000 to more than Tk 100,000 - several times the price - as the deadline neared.

Amid much uncertainty about receiving plane tickets, many desperate to make the trip flocked to Dhaka airport on Friday after they were called by their agencies. The anxious crowd milled around the area as the day wore on and the tension in the air rose.

To try and ease the crisis, Biman Bangladesh ran an additional flight from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur on Friday evening, but only 271 more passengers were able to make the trip on that plane.

That night hundreds of people walked away from the airport after a gruelling day of waiting with broken dreams.

According to data from BMET, the Expatriates' Welfare Ministry approved 523,834 workers to travel to Malaysia as of May 21. Though it was not supposed to approve any others after that date, it did grant permission to another 1,112 afterwards.

BMET data says some 31,701 were not able to make the trip to Malaysia despite getting approvals.

The Expatriates' Welfare Ministry has formed a six-member committee to investigate the cause of the crisis and was instructed to submit a report within seven working days.