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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Malaysians shocked by thousands of Bangladeshis crowding at airport to beat deadline for legal work

  • The May 31 hard deadline has been set after tens of thousands of Bangladeshis seeking work in Malaysia fell victim to an elaborate scam
  • The UN has criticised Malaysia for its failure to protect Bangladeshi workers who have become heavily indebted after paying scammers

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Bangladeshis congregating at the Kuala Lumpur International Lumpur as they rush to beat a May 31 deadline imposed by Malaysia’s government for legal work registration. Photo: Hadi Azmi
Hadi AzmiandAidan Jones
Thousands of migrant workers from Bangladesh rushed to beat a hard Friday deadline for new labourers to enter Malaysia, but many more are shut out from being able to work in the Southeast Asian country and send millions of dollars in crucial remittances despite paying exorbitant fees to agents for visas.
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The May 31 hard deadline was announced after tens of thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers fell victim to an elaborate labour scam in Malaysia, each paying up to US $5,000 upfront for jobs that did not exist once they arrived in the country.

That forced them to seek work illegally to pay their travel debts or overstay their visas, leaving them vulnerable to detention by immigration authorities, trafficking and labour exploitation, after paying hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of what the UN describes as criminal syndicates in both Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Malaysia’s Immigration Department Director-General Ruslin Jusoh said there was about a fourfold increase in arrivals of foreign workers over the last week.

“Normally, about 500 to 1,000 foreign workers would arrive daily. However, the number increased to 2,500 a day on May 22 and between 4,000 and 4,500 daily on May 27,” he said on Thursday.

Arriving on a Friday morning flight with thousands of others making the last-minute dash to beat the cut-off point, Habibur Rahman from Chittagong said he was relieved at making it to Malaysia, where he hoped to make money to send home.

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