Malaysia, a major job destination for South Asian workers, had been restricting Bangladeshi workers for last one and a half year citing their involvement in illegal and unethical activities. [break]
After mounting pressure from Bangladeshi government, Malaysian government decided to reopen Malaysian job market for Bangladeshis last week.
Kumud Khanal, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), told myrepublica.com on Saturday that a proposal has been sent to the cabinet for a policy level decision to secure Malaysian job market for Nepalis.
“Reopening employment opportunities to Bangladeshi workers by Malaysia will drag down the number of Nepalis leaving for Malaysia by over 75 percent as Bangladeshis are comparatively cheaper than Nepalis,” said Khanal, who is also the coordinator of the Nepali manpower agencies sending workers to Malaysia.
Nepalis are getting 840 Malaysian Ringgit per month for 12-hour of work per day, where as Bangladeshis are ready to works for just 650 Ringgit.
Khanal, who last week returned to Nepal after one-month stay in Malaysia, also said number of demands for Nepali workers from Malaysia will sharply decline once Malaysian agents start shifting to Bangladeshi manpower agencies who offer them a commission far higher than what they are getting from Nepali agencies.
Nepali agencies are offering a commission of US$300- US$500 to Malaysian agencies for each worker demanded whereas Bangladeshi agencies offer something between US$1200 and US$1700 per worker.
Department of Foreign Employment states that 82,927 workers left for Malaysia in the last 10 months of the current fiscal. Last year, 37796 Nepali workers had left for Malaysia, the second largest destination of Nepali workers.
Khanal also said Malaysia will be recruiting Bangladeshi workers through direct contact between Bangladeshi manpower agencies and Malaysian employers -- or Company to Company model of recruitment -- against the previous model of outsourcing from local agencies.
The outsourcing had made easy to Bangladeshi workers to change employer companies in the past. Nepali manpower agencies are also applying workers through Company to Company model.
Meanwhile, Malaysian government last week decided to settle the issue of illegal foreign migrants by giving them opportunity to extend their visa or to leave for their respective countries.
Under the new decision, visa for illegal migrants would be extended if their employer approaches with convincing documents. Similarly, opportunity will be given to the detained workers without charging any penalty if they agree to leave Malaysia for their respective countries.
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