Saravanan dismisses reports of protest in Dhaka, says he was given warm welcome

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri M. Saravanan has dismissed reports of a protest in Dhaka, saying that he was well received during his recent working visit to the capital city of Bangladesh on matters related to the recruitment of migrant workers.

“There was no protest in Dhaka,” the Human Resources Minister said while describing the news reports as mere speculation.

"I was well received by Dhaka. In 24 hours, I met the (Bangladeshi) Prime Minister, Labour, Home and Finance Ministers. That is as warm a welcome as any minister can get within a day to see four (ministers),” he added.

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According to news reports, Saravanan was met by a group of demonstrators in front of the Bangladesh expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry during his visit on Thursday (June 2). They apparently called themselves the “anti-syndicate movement.”

The group had previously voiced objections to Malaysia’s proposal to appoint only 25 agencies to supply workers to Malaysia as they claimed that the move would pave the way for syndication.

Saravanan said he had a fruitful discussion with Bangladeshi human expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister Imran Ahmad.

He added that the committee had agreed to recruit workers for the plantation, manufacturing, construction and agricultural sectors.

He said there were about 200,000 applications and the government will vet them accordingly and recruit according to manpower needs.

However, Saravanan said Bangladesh had laid down a condition that Malaysia will have to select 25 agencies from a list of 1,520.

He said a committee had vetted the list and selected 25 agencies.

Saravanan added that the zero cost agreement whereby employers will have to foot the cost of accommodation, flight and other costs had always been in place.

“Employers have to bear the cost and not take from their employees,” he told reporters at a press conference on Friday (June 3).

However, he said any dealings between the agents and employees in their country of origin are out of Malaysia’s jurisdiction.

“I have no right to issue any directive to the source country. As far as Malaysia is concerned, employers who recruit foreign workers from Bangladesh and other countries must bear the cost,” he said.

“Don’t pay first and deduct from the (workers') salary,” he added.

He said a mechanism was in place for workers to report any breaches by employers to the ministry.

As for the batch of Indonesian workers who were initially slated to arrive in Malaysia on May 31 but cancelled at the eleventh hour, he said they were supposed to arrive with the Indonesian manpower minister who had to cancel the trip due to another engagement. He said an announcement will be made at a later date.

On the issuing of work permits for those workers, Saravanan said there had been a misunderstanding that needed to be resolved.

According to reports, Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, had said the plan was cancelled due to visa factors and incomplete travel documents.