BMET warns aspirant Malaysia migrants of being cheated as another deadline misses

The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, widely known as BMET, has warned aspirant Malaysia migrant workers of being cheated financially as another deadline for sending them to the labour market is going to be missed today (30 June).

The bureau under the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment on Wednesday issued a notice in this regard and said it has been heard that a group of unscrupulous individuals and organisations without government approval are running fraudulent campaigns and trying to bag money from the aspirants migrant workers. 

"Beware of unauthorised advertisements, organisations and fraudsters," it reads.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed with Malaysia on the deployment of workers, recruiters will bear all the costs of workers, including airfares and levies. 

"As a necessary preparation, notices have been published in several newspapers to being registered in BMET's database. This registration is conducive to overseas employment, but not a guarantee at all," it said.

Calling for abstaining from all kinds of financial transactions with any person, organisation or recruitment agent before the government announcement, the bureau also urged the candidates not to be helpless by handing over their valuable documents to brokers. 

In case of any financial transaction, the authorities suggest the aspirants should make sure it is being done through a banking channel and is documented. 

Earlier on 2 June, the expatriate welfare ministry declared to start resuming sending workers to Malaysia by the end of this month. The announcement came immediately after a joint working group meeting of the two countries – five months after the deal was signed.

The deadline is going to be missed yet again as none of the aspirant migrant workers has been sent to Malaysia as of today, the deadline, several officials familiar with the matter confirmed to The Business Standard.

Seeking anonymity, the ministry officials also said they were not sure exactly when the ministry would be able to start sending the workers to that country. 

The delay is mainly caused by multi-faceted tensions over the migration of the workers through a syndicate of 25 agencies, they added. 

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur-based Bangladeshi journalist Ahmadul Kobir told TBS that the Malaysian human resources ministry initially decided to open its labour market for Bangladesh again through a group of 25 Bangladeshi agencies. 

"The Malaysian Labor Law Reform Coalition, the Trade Union Congress and the HR Forum then took a strong stand against the decision," he said.

"They argued that the labour market should be open to all. If any kind of syndicate or anyone is given special benefits, the Malaysian industrial sector will suffer in the long run," added Ahmadul Kobir.

In Wednesday's notice, the BMET also asked the aspirant migrant workers to contact nearby district overseas employment offices, technical training centres or to visit www.bmet.gov.bd and call 08000102030 (toll-free) in case of any emergency.