Manpower recruiters on Wednesday demanded that the authorities concerned ensure level-playing field for all legitimate recruiting agencies by scrapping the 25-agency syndicate involved in sending workers to Malaysia.
The recruiters made the demand at a press conference at the city's National Press Club, organised by the Sammilito Somonnoy Front (SSF) of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).
SSF President Dr Mohammad Faruque, Senior Vice President Reaz-ul-Islam and Secretary General Mostafa Mahmud spoke at the programme.
The speakers demanded elimination of money launderers, human traffickers, and anti-development and anti-independence syndicates from the process of sending workers to Malaysia.
They highlighted the losses suffered by the nation as a result of sending workers through syndicates in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The migration cost was fixed at Tk 160,000, but the syndicates would realise Tk 350,000-400,000 from a worker, they said.
This is to mention that the Malaysian market was resumed for Bangladeshi workers with the involvement of a 10-member syndicate back in 2016. But it was closed by the Malaysian government within a few years because of malpractices.
As a result, Bangladeshi workers were deprived of employment opportunities in the Southeast Asian country.
Meanwhile, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding on December 19, 2021 to hire manpower from Bangladesh in different sectors.
Following that, a group of 25 recruiting agencies has been trying their best to establish a monopoly in sending workers to Malaysia.
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