The Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) staged a human chain protest on Monday morning in front of the Expatriates Welfare Building in Dhaka, urging the government to dismantle syndicates controlling the Malaysian labor market and to reopen it for Bangladeshi workers.
Riaz ul Islam, BAIRA's former senior vice president, said, “During the previous regime, a corrupt syndicate manipulated Malaysia’s labor recruitment process, embezzling billions. That system continues today. To stop this, the labor agreement must be revised and the market reopened.”
Speakers alleged the syndicate was headed by fugitive Ruhul Amin Swapan, operating from abroad with backing from former ministers, MPs, and political elites of the ousted regime. Among those named were Salman F. Rahman, Lotus Kamal, Nizam Uddin Hazari, Benazir Ahmed, and others.
They claimed the syndicate extracted Tk 12,000 crore from 800,000 workers for inflated visa and ticket costs, and another Tk 750 crore from 250,000 migrants for medical checks. Agencies also had to pay millions to obtain syndicate approval.
Shawkat Alam Titu, chief accountant of New Age International, stated, “Malaysia needs 1.2 million foreign workers and is hiring from 14 countries. Yet, due to complications, Bangladeshi workers are unable to go, costing us vital remittances.”
Protesters demanded swift government intervention to ensure transparency, equitable access, and economic benefit through renewed labor exports to Malaysia.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
