KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — The Bangladeshi government did not decide on the number or companies allowed to supply workers to Malaysia, a minister from the republic said, refuting Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan’s latest assertion.

Bangladesh’s Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said neither he nor the republic’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina had approved the recruitment companies, The Business Post reported today.

Imran also clarified that the Bangladeshi government did not set a limit on the number of recruitment companies to supply its people as workers to Malaysia, contrary to what has been reported.

“Saravanan made the claim quoting our prime minister. But first we have to think, is there any news regarding this claim? Secondly, in the MoU signed by Bangladesh and Malaysia, there is no clause mentioning 25 agencies.

“And thirdly, when I met with Saravanan for a discussion on the matter in Dhaka on June 2, we held no conversation regarding 25 agencies. So, how can Saravanan claim that we already gave him the approval?”

“Before leaving Dhaka, Saravanan told journalists that usually, the receiving country decides about the agencies, and Malaysia will do this according to the decision of its Cabinet. If so, how can he say that we already approved the matter?” Imran was reported saying.

The Bangladeshi news agency also reported that three out of the 25 recruitment companies in Saravanan’s list are owned by three lawmakers, and another is owned by the wife of an “important minister of Bangladesh”.

The Business Post reported that of the 25 agencies, only one has the experience of sending 387 workers to date, while another has sent only 91 workers.

The news report also quoted a representative of the WARBE Development Foundation — an organisation founded by returning Bangladeshi migrant workers — accusing Saravanan and Bestinet founder Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Abdul Nor, as being the masterminds of the syndicate.

“A Malaysian mafia-like racket is behind the push to create a 25-agency syndicate of Bangladeshi recruiters. Bestinet owner Datuk Seri Ruhul Amin and Malaysian Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan are the masterminds of this racket. A lot of money has already changed hands from Bangladesh to Malaysia,” WARBE chairman Syed Saiful Haque reportedly said.

Bestinet is the Malaysian company that provided the Malaysian government with the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) and continues to run it.

Bangladesh-born Amin, now a naturalised Malaysian citizen, runs Bestinet, which has been repeatedly mired in controversy since 2015. He is also alleged to be running a syndicate that is said monopolise the recruitment of migrant workers to Malaysia.

In July 2018, Nepal barred its citizens from coming to work in Malaysia and alleged that Bestinet’s practices were “restrictive”, though it later reversed its decision in September 2019 after striking a new deal with Putrajaya was more in its favour.

Malay Mail also sighted Imran’s letter on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which was sent through the Bangladeshi High Commission here.

In the letter, Imran thanked the Malaysian government for signing the memorandum of understanding lifting the embargo on foreign worker supply from his country.

He also expressed Bangladesh’s readiness to send workers to Malaysia through a “fair, low-cost and safe migration process, as per internationally accepted norms and our MoU signed in December 2021, keeping the opportunities open to valid, licensed Bangladeshi recruiting agencies”.

There was no mention of the number of agencies approved for the purpose.

Malay Mail has contacted the Human Resources Ministry for a response to the latest development from Bangladesh but is yet to yet to receive one at the time of publication.