A Bangladeshi expatriate suffered minor injuries in a ballistic missile attack by Houthi militias on Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen reported on Sunday.
Two expatriates — one Sudanese and one Bangladeshi — were injured when the missile fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi militias fell in the south of Saudi Arabia, the Khaleej Times reports.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
A number of workshops and civilian vehicles were damaged in the attack which targeted the industrial zone of Ahad Al Masarihah in south-western Saudi Arabia, the report said.
The coalition has been fighting the Houthi group in Yemen since 2015.
Apple
Google
Click to comment
The Daily Star
| বাংলা
৩৭ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
৩০ মিনিট আগে|বন্দর
চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
Skilled migration & more
NEWS ANALYSIS
KL for 25 recruiting agencies: Can Dhaka stick to its no-cap stance?
Porimol Palma
Porimol Palma
Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:40 PM
A debate over syndication in labour recruitment in Malaysia is swirling around, especially after Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard on December 19.
At the heart of the debate is the syndicate of 25 Bangladeshi agents and 250 subagents mentioned by Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan in a letter to Bangladesh Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad on January 14.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
In his reply, on January 18, Imran stressed on allowing all valid recruiting agencies of Bangladesh in the hiring process to ensure transparency, highlighting the Bangladesh Competition Act 2012 and the ILO charters on overseas labour recruitment.
Despite such a stance by Imran Ahmad, it is evident from his statements made to the media on different occasions that he is in favour of quickly opening the Malaysian labour market, which has remained closed since September 2018.
The then Mahathir Mohamad-government shut the market for high recruitment costs that led to forced labour and other forms of exploitation.
Many suspect that for the sake of opening the market, the minister may compromise on the Malaysian preference for syndication which was the case in 2016.
While media reporting brought up various aspects of corruption and labour exploitation under the G2G Plus arrangement since 2016, a group of recruiting agents – Sommilito Somonnay Front– recently came up with a stunning figure of money allegedly laundered at that time.
In a letter to the prime minister on January 13, the Front, a fraction of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said during 2016-18, an estimated Tk 5,000 crore was laundered to Malaysia from Bangladesh as payment to lobbyists and agents in Malaysia from each of the recruitment costs.
According to the letter, 274,000 Bangladeshi workers paid on average Tk 350,000 each for a job in Malaysia during that time. The group also appealed to the PM to stop the recurrence of any syndication to protect the Bangladeshi migrants.
Under the G2G Plus arrangement in 2016, Malaysia forced Bangladesh to accept its offer that 10 recruiting agents would do the recruiting job though Bangladesh then had sent a list of 745 agencies.
But what was the basis of selecting the ten agencies was never explained.
However, this time around, M Saravanan, in a statement on November 26 as the negotiation on the MoU was going on, told local media that Malaysia will become a “dumping ground” if 2,000 agencies in Bangladesh are allowed to send workers there.
He said, however, the number of recruiting agents in Bangladesh should expand from the previous 10. The expansion was evident in his letter to Imran Ahmad.
Recruiting agencies in Bangladesh argued it, saying not a single worker can land in Malaysia if it does not authorise.
Now, the question is — what is the basis of selecting the 25 agents and 250 sub-agents which were suggested by Saravanan?
Andy Hall, a migration researcher and activist, says there is no mechanism on assessing the quality of the recruiting agents in Bangladesh. If it was the case that there are categories of all agents in Bangladesh and that Malaysia will select the best 250 agents, it could be accepted. This is not the case, however.
A Bangladeshi recruiting agent said since the 1990s, Malaysia opened and closed its labour market several times, and each of the closures was due to massive irregularities and labour abuses.
Recent experiences suggest that recruitment cost was almost double when there was a syndicate. For example, the recruitment cost was on average Tk 2 lakh during 2006-2009 when there was no syndicate, whereas it was Tk 350,000 to Tk 4 lakh under a syndicated recruitment arrangement in 2016-18.
Andy Hall, a UK citizen researching migration to Malaysia, said when there is monopoly in business, workers suffer the most. The experiences in Bangladesh-Malaysia corridor suggest that Bangladeshi workers suffered forced labour and debt bondage that are nothing but human trafficking over the years.
Apple
Google
Click to comment
The Daily Star
| বাংলা
৪২ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
৩৫ মিনিট আগে|বন্দর
চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
Migration
No special quotas for expatriats
Malaysian home minister says on recruitment
Staff Correspondent
Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:24 AM
Star file photo
Malaysian Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin yesterday said his country will no longer give special quotas for the recruitment of foreign workers, reports The Star.
Hamzah said every application from Malaysian employers must now go through his ministry’s evaluation committee to determine the number of foreign workers eligible to be employed by the set terms and conditions.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
“Whatever people may say, take note that any employer who needs to hire foreign workers must obtain the committee’s approval according to the law,” Hamzah said.
if an employer wants to get the additional workers they have applied for, they need to submit another application to the human resources ministry, he added.
He, however, said if the quota system was not applied and recruitment could be carried out freely, foreign workers would simply enter the country without adhering to the conditions and criteria set, resulting in various welfare problems.
Apple
Google
Click to comment
The Daily Star
| বাংলা
৪২ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
৩৫ মিনিট আগে|বন্দর
চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
Migration
Malaysia scraps special quota for foreign worker recruitment
The Star
Sat Jan 22, 2022 04:54 PM Last update on: Sat Jan 22, 2022 04:57 PM
In this May 5, 2020 file photo, foreign workers wearing face masks wait to be tested for COVID-19, at a wet market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AP
No more special quotas will be given for the recruitment of foreign workers in Malaysia, the country’s Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said today.
He said every application from employers must now go through the Ministry’s evaluation committee to determine the number of foreign workers eligible to be employed in accordance with the set terms and conditions.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
“Whatever people may say, take note that any employer who needs to hire foreign workers must obtain the committee’s approval according to the law,” said Hamzah.
“Take the plantation sector for example, you must know the foreign worker quota and how many are eligible. Let’s say there should be 1,000 workers but because there is no sufficient accommodation, so probably you can only get 400,” he added.
Hamzah said that if an employer wants to get the additional workers they have applied for, they need to submit another application to the Human Resource Ministry or appeal to the Home Ministry for a review as the process is more stringent than before.
Speaking after a meet-the-people session at Kampung Tapah, Sungai Bayur, near Selama today, Hamzah said that if the quota system was not applied and recruitment could be carried out freely, foreign workers would simply enter the country without adhering to the conditions and criteria set, resulting in various welfare problems.
He was commenting on the call by National Organisation of Private Service Agencies Malaysia (PAPSMA) secretary-general Dr. Sukumaran Nair, for the government to abolish the ‘special approval’ granted to certain parties to have a monopoly on the entry of foreign workers into the country to prevent syndicates from bringing in excessive number of foreign workers.
Previously, employers had to deal through the Home Ministry on the employment of foreign workers, however, currently, all such matters can be made through KSM to ensure uniformity in policies and procedures for employment of foreign workers.
Copyright: The Star/Asia News Network
Apple
Google
Click to comment
The Daily Star
| বাংলা
৪২ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
৩৫ মিনিট আগে|বন্দর
চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
Departure Arrival
Dhaka-Sharjah Biman flight from Jan 25
Staff Correspondent
Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Jan 21, 2022 03:09 AM
For the first time, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate direct flights on the Dhaka-Sharjah-Dhaka route from January 25.
Initially, Biman will operate four flights per week, the national carrier said in a press release yesterday.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
Passengers have to be present at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at least eight hours before scheduled departure time to complete all activities in line with travel advisory.
Apple
Google
Click to comment
The Daily Star
| বাংলা
৪২ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
৩৫ মিনিট আগে|বন্দর
চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
Migration
Malaysia recruitment: All legal agents can now send workers
Staff Correspondent
Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Jan 21, 2022 08:59 AM
Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia
Star file photo.
All authorised recruiting agencies will get opportunities to send workers to Malaysia, said Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad.
The minister has issued a letter in response to one from Malaysia’s human resources minister.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel.
On January 14, the Malaysian minister issued the letter that stressed on the involvement of 25 “main” Bangladeshi recruiting agencies, each with 10 “associate” agencies under it.
As the issue of involvement of “selected” agencies is already in the media of both countries, various recruiting agencies in Bangladesh have termed it “syndication” and demanded an end to this, citing that a similar system had led to the labour market closure in Malaysia.
