Bangladesh News

Over 400 of the disgruntled Bangladeshi workers who had staged protests near Bangladesh mission in Kuala Lumpur have been reinstated, while fate of 367 others is still uncertain.

Malaysian Immigration is most likely to cancel visas of at least 64 workers for allegedly instigating and leading the October 8 protest, Talat Mahmud Khan, labour counsellor of Bangladesh High Commission, told The Daily Star yesterday.

All of the 367 expatriates are now under the shelter of Malaysian Immigration.

These workers say they went to Malaysia between January and April this year and started working at four textile factories in Batu Pahat of Johor. They allege employers paid them only Malaysian ringgit (RM) 200 (Tk 4,000) or less instead of promised RM 1,200. Their living conditions were also horrible.

Following the agitation by Bangladeshi expats who chartered 27 buses to go to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian government in an investigation found some negligence of the employers.

The accommodation facilities provided to all workers and some of their salaries were poor, the labour counsellor said.

The employers have now assured that they would not pay less than RM 18.5 daily to the workers who work on regular basis, while those working at production department will get as per their performance.

They will also not deduct levy for one year, as the Bangladeshi recruiting agencies pay it to the Malaysian agents in advance, which is also realised from the workers.

“Workers cannot pay double levy,” Khan said.

He said all of the 800 workers did not get lower salaries. “Working in a textile factory requires skill, but many of them were not skilled for a textile job that actually resulted in low salaries.”

All workers were also not in favour of the protest, but a few instigated them to go for the action, he said.

“Most of the workers have realised their mistakes and returned to work and many of the rest are also eager to get back to work. The company is not willing to accept some of them.”

He said the Bangladesh mission is negotiating with the employers concerned so that they receive all the workers with statements from them that they would not go on strike.

Asked about the present situation of Bangladeshi workers, Khan said there are both positive and negative sides. In some factories, the employers deduct levy from their salaries making the amount low.

The main problem, the labour counsellor said, is the huge amount Bangladeshi workers pay for migration.

Workers of other countries also get equal salaries, but they are not so much irritated, as they do not pay so high an amount before coming to Malaysia, he added.

Bangladeshi workers pay Tk 2 lakh to 2.5 lakh instead of the government-fixed Tk 84,000 for going to the Southeast Asian country with high hopes of earning bigger amounts. But once they find the salaries lower than expected, they get agitated.

“Sub-agents of both the countries are responsible for this high cost of the workers,” he said, adding: “This must stop.”

Manpower businesses in Bangladesh say sub-agents and many of the recruiting agencies do not explain the facilities the workers would enjoy in Malaysia while processing their documents.