Migration-deprived workers demand refund, damages

The workers who could not go to Malaysia demanded refund immediately and that those involved in the scam be arrested and brought under law quickly.
They made the demands at a demonstration outside the National Press Club in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The money taken by the agencies for sending them to Malaysia should be repatriated as soon as possible, they said.
The Bangladesh Sramik Odhikar Parishad staged the protest, demanding the arrest of the members of the syndicate that cheated the workers intended for Malaysia and compensating for them.
However, Malaysian home minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said they had no plans to extend the deadline (May 31) for the arrival of foreign workers, including those from Bangladesh, to Malaysia despite an appeal from Bangladesh to allow entry for 17,000 workers with approved visas who missed the deadline.
Quoting the minister, New Straits Times reported on Tuesday: "All factors were considered before setting the May 31 deadline."
"Between May 28 and 31, we recorded the entry of more than 20,000 foreign workers into the country. Some of them obtained their visas as early as November last year," the minister added.
The Bangladesh Association for International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) at a press conference the same day binned allegations of any irregularity in sending migrants to Malaysia by the deadline.
They argued that both Malaysian and Bangladesh authorities have a responsibility for the crisis regarding the migration issue.
The press meet was held at the Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Convention Hall.
In his speech, Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of the apex trade body of manpower recruiters, alleged that Malaysia issued visas even after the deadline, and Bangladesh gave immigration clearances, although they knew it was hard for them to send workers at the last moment.
"The deadline ended on May 31, but e-visas were issued even until June 02."
Mr Chowdhury further said that both countries were responsible for such irregularities regarding the migration process.
Mohammad Ruhul Amin Swapan, former secretary general of the BAIRA, among others, spoke at the briefing.
According to the expatriates' welfare ministry, a total of 16,970 workers with Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training clearances count not go to Malaysia within the deadline.
Mr Swapan said that the estimated number of workers who failed to go to Malaysia would not be more than 5,000.
The BAIRA is collaborating with the government to either send them to Malaysia or return their money, he added.
The expatriates' welfare ministry formed a six-member committee on Sunday to investigate the allegations of irregularities in sending workers to Malaysia before the deadline.
The committee launched an email [email protected] for receiving complaints from the workers who failed to go to Malaysia. They can lodge their complaints with necessary documents by June 08.
The southeast Asian country closed its door for foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, on Friday.
State minister for the expatriates' welfare ministry Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury on Saturday stated that punitive action will be taken against those involved in irregularities in sending workers to Malaysia.

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