PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia and Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, effective for five years until December 2026.
The MoU was signed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and Bangladesh’s Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad here today.
Saravanan in a statement said it outlined the responsibilities of both countries – including those related to employers from Malaysia and workers from Bangladesh, as well as the duties of private employment agencies in both countries.
“The MoU is a follow-up to the approval of the cabinet meeting for it to be finalised immediately as the previous MoU expired on February 17,” he said.
According to Saravanan, its implementation would be regulated by a joint working group comprising members from both countries.
He said as of November 30, a total of 326,669 Bangladeshi nationals were working in Malaysia, with the majority of them employed in the manufacturing sector (111,694) and construction sector (136,897).
“The inking of the MoU is expected to meet the urgent need for foreign workers, including in the plantation sector, with the cabinet having already approved 32,000 of them via special exemptions.
“This is because there is a restriction on the entry of Indonesian workers for the plantation sector until the MoU on Indonesian domestic workers has been signed,” he said.
Saravanan said his ministry also stipulated that employers who want to recruit foreign workers would have to provide housing or accommodation facilities, as mentioned under the 1966 Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act.
“This is meant to tackle the element of forced labour related to accommodation facilities or housing for workers,” he said.
In line with the decision of the cabinet meeting on December 10 to allow foreign workers to be recruited for all sectors, he said the standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the entry of foreign workers had been finetuned and improved.
He said the SOPs cover four phases – pre-release, upon arrival, after arrival (quarantine), and post-quarantine.
The pre-release phase includes aspects on getting fully vaccinated for Covid-19 in the country of origin, and the RT-PCR screening test to be done two days before departure.
In the arrival phase, foreign workers will only be allowed to come in through one international entrance, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, for air travel.
Saravanan said Bukit Kayu Hitam, Wang Kelian, and Rantau Panjang are for land routes limited to Thai fishing vessel crews.
“For the after arrival phase, which is the quarantine period, foreign workers will be placed at quarantine centres in the Klang Valley for seven days – where screening tests will be carried out on the second and fifth day of the quarantine period.
“In the post-quarantine phase, foreign workers will be taken to their respective workplaces and undergo health checks by the Foreign Workers’ Medical Examination Monitoring Agency,” he said.
He said the entry of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, would be strictly monitored based on stipulated SOPs by the ministry in collaboration with the Health Ministry and National Security Council. – Bernama, December 19, 2021
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