Bangladesh’s Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said migrant workers faced difficulty due to the high costs incurred to work in Malaysia.

He said some workers had forked up nearly RM19,000 to work here in 2016 and 2018.

“If I allow high charges for recruitment (of Bangladeshi workers abroad), I will betray my constituents,” he told a press conference yesterday.

The Malaysian government suspended the intake of Bangladeshi workers in September 2018 pending an investigation into the system used to hire the workers, according to Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran.

Officials from both countries have held several negotiations in the past year but the market has not reopened yet.

The old Foreign Worker Application System for Bangladeshi workers only allowed 10 selected agencies approved by the previous Malaysian government to undertake the recruitment of migrant workers from Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi applicants were required to pay up to RM20,000 each in processing fees to facilitate work permit approvals and other arrangements.

Daily Star Bangladesh reported that members of the recruitment agencies blamed illegal brokers in both countries, adding that Imran had expressed similar views.

Imran said brokers’ involvement in migrant workers’ recruitment would be weakened once a transparent system was in place.

He said he had also asked the agencies to acknowledge the legitimacy of these brokers, adding that his ministry would get them registered and hold them accountable.

“My prime target is to ensure that the workers can go abroad by spending an amount set (by the authorities).”

A World Bank study in 2015 found that Bangladeshi migrant workers paid the highest amount to be recruited while earning very meagre wages, causing many to fall into debt.