Dear Mr. Anders Melin,
We are in receipt of your email of today, 4th November 2024 wherein you have asked to send our reply / comments by the end of working day. You are kindly aware that, there is a time gap between your place and Dhaka and as such we have hardly any time to reply with all relevant information.
However, we are sending you the following information:
1. The Migration of Bangladeshis for work visa is carried out abiding by “the Overseas employment and migrant act-2013.” The recruiting Agencies are required to register with the Ministry of Expatriates’ welfare and Overseas Employment and the BMET for lawfully engaging in manpower export business. Our manpower recruiting agency “Catharsis International” holding Recruiting License no.549 has been engaged in manpower business since 1997 with high reputation. You might be aware that, Bangladesh and Malaysia signed an MoU latest on 19 December 2021 and according to the relevant provision (Appendix B: Para: C-V: The Government of Malaysia shall select BRA automatically through the online system from the list provided by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh & VI: The Government of Malaysia shall ensure transparency and fairness of the online system for selection of BRA and distribution of quota) of the MoU Malaysia had chosen 101 reputed recruiting agencies of Bangladesh for Migration of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia and during the time frame from August 2022 to 31st May 2024 a number of 4,76,672 workers migrated to Malaysia within in the framework of the MoU, Overseas Employment and Migrants Act-2013 and the existing rules and regulations of both the two countries. There is no single example that any of this worker lodged a single complaint against
According to the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 19, 2021, between the governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia, the Malaysian government enlisted 101 recruiting agencies, including Government owned BOESL (Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited) for sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia.
As an enlisted Bangladeshi recruiting agency of both the Governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia, we have sent workers to Malaysia in accordance with the procedures established by both governments for recruiting workers under the quotas allocated by the Malaysian government through the Auto Allocation System. In this case, Demand Letters were attested by Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia and the recruitment permission was granted by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment for the recruitment of workers under the quota, as approved by the Government of Malaysia.
It is noteworthy that after obtaining approval of Quota for recruitment of workers, employers have paid levy to the Malaysian Government for each worker and have collected the approval for calling visas and e-visas. Additionally, the employers have paid fees for the attestation of Demand Letters from Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia for those workers of allocated quota.
Subsequently, after selecting workers according to the approved procedures of both governments and conducting health examinations at government-approved medical centers, employers have obtained group-based calling visa approval from Malaysia's Immigration Department for these workers. Then, applications for e-Visas have been made through the Malaysian Government's online system. Once the Malaysian Immigration Authority granted individual e-Visa approval for each worker, those visas were collected from the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka. After completion of pre-departure training, obtaining certificates and the final immigration clearance from BMET (Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, Dhaka) the workers were only allowed to travel to Malaysia on work visa.
"On the other hand, human trafficking is defined in the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, 2012 as follows;"
3 (1): (a) By displaying threats or using force; or
(b) By deceiving or exploiting the economic, social, environmental, or any other vulnerability of the person; or
(c) By obtaining the consent of a person who has control over that individual through the exchange of money or other benefits;
- For the purpose of sexual exploitation, abuse, labor exploitation, or any other form of exploitation, selling or purchasing, collecting or receiving, deporting or transferring, smuggling, detaining, hiding, or harboring within or outside Bangladesh.
3 (2): Offenses related to child trafficking; since adult workers have been sent to Malaysia lawfully, this provision does not apply to the recruiting agencies for sending workers to Malaysia on work visa.
Mentionable that, workers have been sent in accordance with the prevailing laws, regulations, and terms of agreements between the two countries; therefore, this does not fall under the human trafficking law in any way. To ensure that workers are not subjected to human trafficking in the context of labor export, authenticity of the Demand Letters (issued by the Malaysian Government) have been attested by the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia. These attested Demand Letters have been further verified by the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and then granted permission for the recruitment of workers. After completing all procedures, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) have conducted final verification and issued an immigration clearance. No worker has been able to enter Malaysia with an e-Visa without this immigration clearance. Even after all these verification steps, recruiting agencies undertake responsibility for ensuring workers' salaries, allowances, and other necessary service benefits as per contract with the respective employer. Only the Government approved legitimate agency fees has been realized from the workers as service charge. Therefore, the question of money laundering or extortion or human trafficking does not raise in this authentic process of workers’ migration to Malaysia.
Before traveling to Malaysia, a contract is signed between the employer and the worker in both English and Bengali, which must be adhered to by both parties and it is supervised by the Malaysian government and the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. In case of any deviation, the employer must be accountable to the Malaysian government, and the enlisted recruiting agencies to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. Therefore, no worker has been sent to Malaysia against their will, under any coercion, or with any deceived information. Additionally, no worker has lodged any complaints regarding this matter; rather, they have expressed gratitude for the employment opportunities in Malaysia.
On behalf of the Bangladesh Government, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the emigration process and ensured that the emigration process is done in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and national laws. The government has collected taxes and VAT from the agencies for this immigration process and fees for the clearance from BMET. Thus, the entire emigration process has been completed under the laws of both governments.
If there is any legal deviation in this immigration process of workers to Malaysia, the opinion of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment can be sought and should be addressed by the Ministry. In this context, raising questions against any policy of both the Governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia by a separate department or office beyond the established channel of communication, may adversely affect the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.
As the recruiting agencies have sent workers in compliance with all the provisions of the "Overseas Employment and Immigration Act-2013," Catharsis International has not committed any offenses in sending workers to Malaysia.
You may please see the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act-2013 from the link; https://webapps.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/docs/169/Act.pdf and also the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, 2012 from the link; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hsQ6s8ZddMZEteTm7llSefBpXZy0XUX3/view?usp=sharing
We have conducted manpower export business to Malaysia through legitimate way, abiding by the rules, regulations and laws of the Governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia. As such, it is not clear to us how the police or any other authority or the media call or identify any dignified person as human trafficker for legally conducting manpower export business in Bangladesh.
Finally, we have not received any notice / process from the investigation authority or from the Court on such allegations. Any way, we have not committed any offence in doing manpower export business to Malaysia.
Please do not hesitate to ask for any further information in this regard.
Your sincerely
Mohammed Ruhul Amin