KUALA LUMPUR: Some 10,000 Bangladesh workers are scheduled to arrive in Malaysia next month, government officials confirmed to Bikyanews.com this week. The move means that the country will see a rise in the number of available workers. The first batch of 10,000 Bangladeshis to work in Malaysian plantations is expected to arrive next month, said Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok. He said arrangements were being made to ensure the process of bringing them in went smoothly. “Ultimately, we need about 40,000 of them,” he told newsmen after closing a workshop on branding of Malaysian palm oil here. He did not give an actual date of the workers' arrival and said that it would be determined by talks with Dhaka. It was reported earlier this month that the Bangladeshi government would open up an online registration process for 10,000 workers to work in Malaysian plantations. Malaysia and Bangladesh agreed in November last year that the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers be done on a government-to-government basis. The return of Bangladeshi workers has been in the works for some time, but is finally getting the green light. Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam said late last year that a Malaysia-Bangladesh joint committee had been set up, with a representative from the Bangladesh High Commission sitting on it. “We are now looking into finalizing the MOU and hope to sign it as soon as possible. Our target is the intake of Bangladeshi workers by December this year," he told reporters after the ministry's monthly gathering. Subramaniam had led a delegation to Dhaka recently after the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants agreed to the trip following an appeal by Bangladesh for Malaysia to reconsider recruiting Bangladeshi immigrant workers. Malaysia imposed an indefinite ban on the intake of Bangladeshi workers in 2007 following numerous cases and complaints of exploitation by employers and recruitment agents in this country. BN
