Expatriate Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury has said the migration cost for workers going to Malaysia this year has been fixed at Tk 1.54 lakh.
He made the announcement while speaking to journalists on Thursday (12 November) morning at the Probashi Kallyan Bhaban in the capital. The minister added that the final list of approved medical centres will be published within the next week.
Ariful Haque Chowdhury noted that the government has officially set the cost for a worker to go to Malaysia at Tk 1.54 lakh. However, stakeholders have been quoting figures of up to Tk 2–3 lakh. He remarked that workers would not have faced so much harassment if expenses had remained within the officially fixed limit.
Meanwhile, the only government recruiting agency, Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), has launched an initiative to send 10,000 workers to Malaysia completely free of cost under government management. As part of this effort, the agency has already started the recruitment process for 112 workers for DHL Supply Chain in Malaysia.
In addition, BOESL has received formal demand letters for another 558 workers in Malaysia’s tourism, manufacturing, and caregiver sectors.
Officials hope that implementing the fixed migration cost, alongside the government initiative to send workers free of charge, will reduce the financial burden and harassment faced by workers heading to Malaysia.