Recruiters demand withdrawal of ‘irrational conditions’ for sending workers to Malaysia
According to the association’s members, these conditions are “politically motivated” and a “new strategy to create a syndicate.”
Members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) have urged the government to withdraw the new set of 10 conditions imposed for sending workers to Malaysia, terming them "irrational, unrealistic, unacceptable, and discriminatory."
They submitted a joint letter to the adviser of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment today (30 October), demanding the withdrawal of the conditions recently issued in a government notice.
According to the notice issued on 29 October, recruiting agencies wishing to send workers to Malaysia must apply by 7 November after meeting the newly introduced requirements.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Earlier, Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an official letter dated 27 October 2025, requested the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to submit by 15 November a list of private recruiting agencies eligible to send workers to Malaysia under 10 mandatory criteria set by its Ministry of Human Resources.
The Baira letter stated that the conditions include having an office space of at least 10,000 square feet, a minimum of five years of experience, records of sending at least 3,000 workers in the past five years, operating from the same address for three years, five letters of recommendation from employers, and maintaining an in-house training centre.
According to the association's members, these conditions are "politically motivated" and a "new strategy to create a syndicate."
The letter further noted that between 1991 and 2016, Bangladesh sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Malaysia without such additional requirements. However, since 2017, the process has been marred by "illegal syndicates, discrimination, exploitation, and corruption."
The new criteria, they said, would effectively exclude 99% of recruiting agencies, handing control of the market to a few selected entities.
They argued that many agencies were unable to send workers in recent years due to challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, global recession, and restrictions in Middle Eastern labour markets.
Therefore, conditions such as maintaining a 10,000-square-foot office or owning a training centre are "unrealistic" and would further increase migration costs.
The association urged the government to engage in discussions with the Malaysian authorities to cancel the newly imposed conditions and reopen the Malaysian labour market to all licensed Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.
The letter also proposed that if Malaysia insists on issuing limited licenses, the government-owned recruiting agency BOESL could act as the principal agent, while other private agencies should still be allowed to participate in sending workers.
