According to foreign employment agencies, the Malaysian government has already decided to lift the ban on Bangladeshi laborers, further shrinking job opportunities for Nepali workers. [break]
"We have confirmed the news report about the Malaysian government´s new decision," Kumud Khanal, general-secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), told Republica. "Only some procedures are left now for the Malaysian government´s recent decision to come into effect."
Nepali foreign employment agencies say that Malaysia´s new decision comes as a jolt to thousands of unemployed Nepali youths, who are eying unskilled jobs in the construction and plantation sectors in Malaysia. "If our government does not swing right into action within a couple of weeks, the opportunities of Nepalis for working in Malaysia will certainly be devoured by Bangladeshi cheap labor," Khanal stated.
The Malaysia government had announced a ban on Bangladeshi workers last year, canceling some 55,000 work visas, ostensibly to prevent unscrupulous Bangladeshi agents from duping foreign job seekers. The Bangladesh government had been trying to persuade Malaysia to revoke its decision.
"The Bangladesh government lobbied hard with the Malaysian government to scrap the ban on its workers. Even the Bangladeshi premier, Sheikh Hasina, met her Malaysian counterpart in person several times, asking Malaysia to allow her people to work in Malaysia," Hansa Raj Wagle, vice-president of NAFEA, said. "However, our government pathetically failed to lobby for its people."
In December, the outgoing labor minister, Mohammad Aftab Alam, had requested some Malaysian authorities to create an environment for Nepal to send workers to the construction and plantation sectors in Malaysia. However, a political void persisted for long in Nepal, leaving no competent authority here to lobby for Nepali migrants.
While Bangladeshi laborers were prohibited from working in Malaysia, the Nepal government did not allow its citizens to work at plantations and construction sites in Malaysia, citing low wages and insecurity. The basic salary scale of migrant workers in Malaysia is low. Despite the low salary scale, most migrant laborers working in other sectors earn more than 800 ringgit through overtime. However, migrant workers employed in the construction and plantation sectors have to be satisfied with their basic salaries as they cannot work overtime.
"As it rains frequently in Malaysia, migrant workers employed in the construction and plantation sectors cannot work overtime. They have to stay indoors at least one week every month. Besides, camps meant for plantation workers are set up close by forests and are not safe," Khanal said. "Our workers cannot work there as long as these circumstances continue. The government could have created a more favorable atmosphere by lobbying with Malaysia. However, we failed to do so."
Malaysia -- where a majority of Nepali migrants are currently working --- requires thousands of laborers in its plantation and construction sectors, especially as Indonesian laborers stopped seeking jobs there. In this new scenario, argue Nepali manpower agencies, Malaysia could have easily agreed to hike the basic salary scales and make the camps safe for Nepali workers had the government lobbied for it.
More than 30 percent of the total of 1.8 million migrant workers currently employed in Malaysia are in the plantation and construction sectors. Although Bangladeshi laborers work for low wages, Nepali workers, foreign employment agencies argue, have some other merits of their own. "They are honest, disciplined and quick to learn new skills," Wagle said. "The government should cash in on our workers´ exemplary merits while lobbying for better salaries and safer camps."
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