Malaysia scam: HC enquires about action against recruiting agencies for failure to send over 17,000 workers
The High Court directed the secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and other relevant authorities to submit a report on the matter by 27 August
Highlights
- Authorities asked to report by 27 August on refunds, deployment progress
- Court earlier questioned why affected workers' money shouldn't be returned with interest
- Around 17,777 workers missed the deadline as agencies failed to provide tickets
- On 24 June 2024, HC issued rule asking why the authorities' negligence, inaction should not be declared illegal
The High Court has asked the government to clarify what actions have been taken against recruiting agencies responsible for the failure to send 17,777 workers to Malaysia.
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The court also enquired whether the affected workers, who had completed all necessary procedures but were ultimately unable to travel, have been refunded their money and what progress has been made regarding their potential deployment to Malaysia.
The High Court directed the secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and other relevant authorities to submit a report on the matter by 27 August.
The directive came yesterday during a hearing in which the expatriates' welfare ministry reported to the High Court that recruiting agencies were responsible for the failure to send the 17,777 workers.
The High Court bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Asaf issued the order.
The case stems from a public interest writ petition filed after the Malaysian labour recruitment scandal.
On 24 June last year, the High Court issued a rule asking why the authorities' negligence and inaction, which devastated the lives of the victims, should not be declared illegal.
The court also questioned why the authorities should not be ordered to refund the affected 17,777 workers with interest.
Additionally, the authorities were instructed to submit updated reports every three months regarding developments in the case.
Lawyers Md Tanvir Ahmed and Biplob Kumar Poddar represented the petitioners during the hearing.
Since reopening the labour market in August 2022, Malaysia allocated a quota of over 532,000 for Bangladeshi workers.
Out of this, 476,000 workers reached their destination in 2024.
However, around 17,777 workers could not fly as the recruiting agencies failed to provide tickets before the 31 May 2024 deadline set by Malaysia.
The stranded workers protested on 22 January 2025, blocking the Saarc Fountain in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar area.
Ruhul Amin, the then secretary of the expatriates' welfare ministry, said that the process of sending the stranded Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia would begin between March and April.
He also said that 2,500 workers had already found jobs in Malaysia, and 81% of the remaining workers had received compensation from the recruiting agencies.
Ruhul Amin assured that the workers who were unable to travel would be given priority in the next round of sending workers abroad, and that all of them would receive compensation.
However, one of the stranded workers, Alamgir Hasan, told TBS yesterday, "At least 2,000 people in our group couldn't go and haven't received any compensation. We have contacted the ministry, and they said the issue will be resolved by June-July."
