Bangladesh News

Shortage of flights and procedural bungling are greatly hampering manpower export to Malaysia forcing thousands of job seekers to wait for indefinite periods.

Around 14,000 workers have completed all formalities for flying to Malaysia but their departure is being delayed for long just because the flights cannot carry more than 700 passengers to Malaysia daily, said an official of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

A total of 43,478 workers left for Malaysia from October last year to April 24. And more than 60,000 have been granted calling visas, and fingerprints of about 80,000 have been sent to that country for visa processing.

Presently Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur flights include once a day direct flight of Malaysian Airline with a carrying capacity of 350 passengers, twice a week flights of GMG Airlines capable of carrying 140 passengers each and three flights of Bangladesh Biman a week with a capacity of carrying 300 passengers each.

There are also some indirect flights to Malaysia but, in all, the airlines cannot carry more than 700 passengers daily, the BMET official mentioned.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), which is entrusted with taking fingerprints of Malaysia-bound workers, can take those of around 1,400 workers a day.

“All the 1400 fingerprints cannot be sent to Malaysia for visa processing every day as some recruiting agencies need to change a number of workers who have already given their fingerprints,” said a Baira official requesting anonymity.

Baira allows recruiting agencies to change only five percent of the workers who have given their fingerprints, a manpower agent said. “For various reasons, a recruiting agency might need to change more such workers.”

He said there are several thousand workers whose fingerprints are not being sent to Malaysia as their agents want to change more than five percent of them. “Baira is not a regulatory body but it is trying to regulate agencies,” he added.

Another agent said Baira is also not allowing recruiting agencies to submit scanned photographs, passports and medical certificates of workers to it for entry into computer network. But the Malaysian IT company that installed the computer network between Baira and Malaysia wants it.

He went on, “Baira says there will be mistakes if agents scan those and submit to it. It (Baira) wants to do this just for creating a technical hazard so that it can extort workers.”

According to sources in Baira, some of its employees were sacked for irregularities like manipulating serial numbers of workers taking bribe and taking fingerprints of many workers who did not have any demand letters from Malaysian employers. Workers can give their fingerprints only when they have legitimate demand letters from employers.

“Several members of the now dissolved Baira executive committee were actively involved in such illegal practices to extort workers,” a manpower agent alleged.

When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Muhammad Maqsudur Rahman, who has been appointed administrator of Baira, said the government has already asked the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka to increase the number of Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur flights to carry the workers smoothly.

On the agents’ submission of scanned photographs, passports and medical certificates, he said they have already discussed the issue and hopefully will allow the agents to do so. “This will reduce the work load of Baira to some extent,” he said.

Asked if Baira will allow change of more than five percent of workers, the administrator said allowing this might create a situation in which workers will be harassed or exploited.

“A recruiting agency brings a worker to Baira office only when he becomes eligible for flying to Malaysia and pays to the agency. So, why should we allow the agencies to go for more changes of workers?”

He however said Baira will surely allow change of workers if there are logical grounds for it.