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Published : 27 Apr 2025, 05:47 PM
The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has held recruiting agencies “fully responsible” for the shattered dreams of 17,777 people who were not able to travel to Malaysia for work despite receiving clearance from a Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) committee.
A report on the issue prepared by a committee formed by the ministry was presented to the High Court panel of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Asaf on Sunday.
Lawyer Tanvir Ahmed, who filed a writ petition on the issue, said the court has ordered the state to submit an update the actions taken against the recruiting agencies involved, and whether the victims had been fully compensated.
The court also sought information on what action has been taken to send the affected workers to Malaysia by Aug 27.
The Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier set May 31 as the deadline for new and existing foreign workers to join their posts in 2024.
Thousands of Bangladeshi missed the deadline due to various reasons, including a shortage of air tickets.
The ministry later formed a six-member investigation committee to look into the cause of the crisis.
According to the report, “recruiting agencies” cited the unavailability of air tickets for their failure to send workers to Malaysia.
However, a data review showed that agencies were not sending workers on time, which created additional pressure on ticket available, causing both shortages and price hikes.
The report recommended taking action against the agencies involved for failing to send workers and neglecting their duties.
It also called for proper measures to avoid such situations in the future, including steps to ensure opportunities for all agencies to send workers to Malaysia and fixing a deadline for receiving BMET clearance cards and sending workers.
