Workers protest over failed migration to Malaysia, demand refunds

Workers who paid hefty amounts of money to go to Malaysia but couldn't leave within the specified time frame held a human chain today in front of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment in Eskaton.

They raised a seven-point demand at the human chain, including a refund of their money.

The aspiring migrants started gathering at the spot at 10:00am and began the protest program around 12:00pm.

The protesters alleged that, although the deadline for entering Malaysia expired on May 31, the agencies failed to send them there for unknown reasons.

Despite multiple assurances from the government about refunding their money, most of them are yet to receive it, they alleged.

"Complaints lodged have also remained unresolved. As a result, we have decided to continue our protest until our demands are met," said Md Ratan, from Tongi, who paid Tk 4 lakh to a recruiting agency but could neither go to Malaysia nor get a refund despite repeated assurances.

Their demands include the cancellation of licenses for the 100 agencies involved in the syndicate and imposing travel bans on their owners, seizing money siphoned abroad by fugitive owners and distributing it among the affected workers, halting the dispatch of workers to Malaysia until the existing problems are resolved, and the immediate arrest of agents, sub-agents, and brokers acting as shields for recruiting agencies.

Other demands include providing explanations for why complaints filed with the ministry and the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) have remained unresolved for three to four months, establishing a system where migration costs are deposited in government banks to prevent brokers' exploitation, holding the government accountable for its failure to ensure compensation, and arranging cost-free employment in other countries for the affected workers.