‘Malaysia Will Take 200,000 Bangladeshis in Six Months’: Malaysian Government Calls Shahe Alam’s Claim Baseless

❐ BD Digest Desk

A Malaysian government spokesperson has rejected Bangladeshi State Minister Mir Shah Alam’s statement that nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi workers will be hired in the next six months.

The statement by the BNP government’s state minister is not the official position of the Malaysian government, said Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil, the country’s government spokesman.

At the weekly press conference, Fahmi Fadzil said that Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan told him that the statement made by Bangladesh was the personal statement of a minister. It should not be considered an official announcement or decision by the Malaysian government. It has no basis.

“This does not represent an official decision of the Bangladesh government. This is what the Human Resources Minister told me. So this is not an official position,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Mir Shahe Alam, claimed that Malaysia is planning to hire about 200,000 Bangladeshi workers in the next six months.

According to him, these workers will be recruited through institutions approved by Malaysian authorities. The recruitment process is planned to begin in stages by the end of September and be completed within the next six months.

However, after Bangladesh’s statement, Malaysia expressed a different position on the matter.

Bangladesh requests to open labor market

Tarique Rahman had earlier requested that Malaysia consider reopening its labor market to Bangladeshi workers. He made the request during discussions with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last June.

There were various allegations of labor exploitation and recruitment processes behind the closure of the Malaysian labor market for Bangladeshi workers.

Malaysia imposed restrictions on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in 2024 after allegations of exploitation of workers, debt bondage, forced labor, and sending workers to Malaysia without promised jobs.

Since then, discussions have been ongoing between the two countries on reopening the country’s labor market to Bangladeshi workers.

Meanwhile, while discussions are underway on the potential number of Bangladeshi workers to be hired, Malaysia is also taking steps to reduce its dependence on foreign workers.

According to a report by the country’s media outlet The New Straits Times, the demand to hire new Bangladeshi workers has come to the fore amid efforts to reduce dependence on foreign workers.

The Malaysian government aims to reduce the share of foreign workers in the country’s total labor force to about 10 percent by 2030.

As a result, new questions have been raised about how consistent the information provided by Bangladesh to recruit nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi workers in the next six months is with the Malaysian government’s actual plans.

Now, attention is on what official decision or announcement the Malaysian government makes on the matter.