Malaysia-bound aspiring migrants stage demo at Karwan Bazar, causing traffic gridlock
The demonstrators are part of a group of over 17,000 workers who missed a 31 May 2024 deadline set by Malaysian authorities.
Aspiring migrants who could not secure flights to Malaysia last year, held a demonstration at the Sonargaon intersection in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar area today to press home their five demands, bringing traffic to a standstill.
The demonstrators are part of a group of over 17,000 workers who missed a 31 May 2024 deadline set by Malaysian authorities.
They said they demand that those whose e-visas were issued before the 31 May deadline but who did not receive BMET clearance, as well as those who completed all procedures, be sent to Malaysia within a short period of time.
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The demonstrating workers vacated the road at around 12:30pm after a delegation went to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to discuss their plight, allowing traffic in the area to return to normal shortly thereafter, said Sobdullai Mollah, a traffic inspector stationed at the intersection.
The other demands: no worker should be excluded from the process, regardless of whether new interviews are held or not; a specific date must be fixed within a short time and a written memorandum must be provided; the memorandum must be formally submitted through the chief adviser and the expatriates' welfare adviser; and if the workers cannot be sent there by the written deadline, the government must immediately arrange alternative employment opportunities for them, along with compensation.
Missed deadline and measures from authorities
Last year, around 18,000 people failed to reach Malaysia before the deadline due to mismanagement by government authorities and local recruiting agents, as they failed to provide tickets.
The Malaysian authorities later declined to extend the deadline despite calls made by the then Bangladeshi government in early June.
After a government change in August 2024, Asif Nazrul, now the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment adviser, said in October that Malaysia had agreed to receive the 18,000 Bangladeshi workers who had previously missed the deadline to enter the country.
In December, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Md Shameem Ahsan met with Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and discussed the issue.
Later, a joint technical group was formed consisting of representatives from the country's immigration and the Bangladesh High Commission to take the stranded Bangladeshis to Malaysia in phases.
In January this year, the interim government selected a total of 7,964 people to be sent to Malaysia in the first phase, according to an announcement by foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam.
This August, the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur announced that the Malaysian government would recruit Bangladeshi workers under a high quota in the construction and traditional sectors, applicable to only those who missed the migration deadline.
It said in an official notification issued on 1 August that the opportunity applied specifically to workers who had secured approval from the Malaysian authorities through BOESL (Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited) but could not go there before the 31 May deadline.
Once the necessary data were submitted and evaluated, the final list would be sent to the Bangladesh High Commission for further processing, it added.
