Malaysia to shut the gates on migrant workers from June

Malaysia has announced that after 31 May, no workers from Bangladesh and 15 other countries will be allowed to enter Malaysia. The Malaysian High Commissioner to Dhaka, Haznah Md Hashim, stated that the country's decision is unlikely to change

"This decision will be a major setback since Malaysia is one of our largest markets," said Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira).

Last year Malaysia was the second largest overseas job market for Bangladeshi workers, with over 4 Lakh having migrated  since it's labour market opened once more in 2022.

Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that starting 1 June, the government would not allow foreign workers under the current quotas, according to the New Straits Times. Any new recruitment decisions will be made after evaluating the quota of workers who have not arrived by 31 May and the results of the ongoing labour recalibration program (RTK2.0), which concludes on 30 June, 2024, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.

The Malaysian government has set a limit on the foreign worker quota at 15 percent of the total workforce by 2025.

As of 15 March, there were about 2.17 million foreign workers in Malaysia, according to records from the Malaysian Immigration Department. The government will consider the existing quota before introducing a new one.

In December 2021, Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding in Kuala Lumpur, lifting a nearly four-year moratorium on labour imports imposed by Malaysia due to allegations of malpractice and irregularities by a "syndicate" of Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.