Malaysia must slash fees, smash cartels to reopen Bangladesh labour market: rights groups

Migrant workers from Bangladesh should no longer be forced to cover the costs of job placements in Malaysia, rights advocates say, as they push for sweeping reforms to safeguard labourers and dismantle the corrupt recruitment networks that have made fortunes from their exploitation.

The appeal comes as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is set to visit Bangladesh on Friday and meet the country’s chief adviser to the government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has been in charge since the August collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government following a nationwide protest movement against her regime.

“It is vital that the Madani administration fully cooperates with Muhammad Yunus to expose the Malaysian side of the labour cartels, especially high-level officials and organised criminals involved,” migrant rights activist and North South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereria told This Week in Asia, referring to Anwar’s “Madani” framework of inclusive governance and social justice.

In June, Malaysia imposed a blanket ban on the arrival of new foreign labourers, partly in response to allegations of migrant workers being exploited, especially those from Bangladesh.