UN agencies concerned over Bangladeshi workers stranded in Malaysia

The three international agencies say they are ready to support the government with reviewing its labour migration system, after reports of Bangladeshi workers stranded in the country. (Andy Hall pic)

PETALING JAYA: Three international organisations have expressed concern over the plight of Bangladeshis duped into coming to Malaysia for non-existent jobs.

The International Organization for Migration, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime say they are ready to support meeting the immediate needs of those stranded.

This includes enhancing their access to justice and basic services, as well as longer term efforts to find rights-based and sustainable solutions to the situation, they said in a joint statement.

“The three agencies stand ready to support the government of Malaysia with reviewing the current labour migration system, drawing on international standards and good practices, and supporting constructive policy dialogue to develop a transparent and efficient labour migration process,” the statement said.

It said Bangladeshi migrant workers currently make up the largest number of migrant workers in Malaysia.

Since the second quarter of 2023, there has been an increasing number of reports of workers who were not provided jobs upon arrival in the country, the agencies said.

“Instead, there have been reports of employers and related recruitment agents placing them in often very crowded hostels, apartments, or even warehouses, with unsanitary facilities, minimal access to food, limited communications with the outside world, and limited healthcare (or lack thereof), while confiscating their passports and other documentation,” the statement added.

In April, a group of UN experts called on Malaysia to do more to protect Bangladeshi migrant workers from exploitation over non-existent jobs.

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said they were dismayed at reports about Bangladeshi migrants who travelled to Malaysia after being promised employment, only to find out they had been duped.

Last October, migrant rights activist Andy Hall referred Malaysia’s poor response to the plight of these Bangladeshi workers to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a body under the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.