Malaysia placed a freeze on hiring last year after thousands of Bangladeshi workers were left stranded and exploited by recruitment scams
Malaysia imposed a freeze on migrant workers from Bangladesh – its largest source country for employees in manual industries – in June last year after the discovery of syndicates charging workers up to US$5,000 each for non-existent jobs that left thousands stranded with no work and vulnerable to exploitation.
In May, Malaysia agreed to allow the hiring of nearly 8,000 out of 17,000 Bangladeshis who were believed to have been duped by job syndicates.
Calling Bangladesh “an important partner,” Anwar said the nation’s “workers have been instrumental in … contributing to our development.”
Bangladesh sent up to 450,000 people to work in Malaysia between 2021 and 2023, according to labour authorities in Dhaka.
