[caption id="attachment_2241" align="alignleft" width="800"] The number of Bangladeshis entering the country far exceeds other nationalities coming to Malaysia to work. (Bernama pic)[/caption] Immigrant rights activists have expressed concern about the speed at which Bangladeshi workers are arriving in Malaysia, particularly at the rate at which many are stranded upon arrival. Andy Hall said another cause for concern is that the number of Bangladeshis entering Malaysia far exceeds the number of other nationalities coming to work in Malaysia. A Bangladeshi newspaper quoted the country's Human Resources, Employment and Training Department as saying that more than 300,000 of the 450,000 approved workers have come to Malaysia since the labor market reopened in December 2021. Reported. According to Bangladesh Business Standards, an additional 120,000 workers from the country are attempting to travel to Malaysia. Bangladesh recorded its highest monthly labor export in August, with more than 138,600 workers leaving the country, of which 46,105 went to Malaysia, the report said. "It is very worrying that a large number of Bangladeshi migrant workers have recently come to Malaysia. Their number far exceeds the number of other nationalities. More than 300,000 have entered the country in less than two years." said Hall.

“We know that many of these workers end up in acute modern slavery situations in the country, due to debt bondage from exorbitant recruitment costs.”

He said Bangladeshi immigrants were paying more than US$6,000 (RM28,140) per person, adding that recruitment costs for all nationalities were rising rapidly. He said the long-standing problem of Bangladeshi migrants recruited by syndicates not being offered jobs when they arrive here has not been fully resolved.

“While this has been caused by bogus Malaysian employers and agents, the Bangladeshi government is complicit in allowing these syndicates to continue to draw its citizens into a situation of abuse and debt bondage in Malaysia” he said.

On December 19, 2021, Malaysia signed an agreement with Bangladesh to reopen the labor market after a three-and-a-half-year ban on the labor market for migrant workers. According to the report, the sectors in which they were used included manufacturing, construction, services, plantations, agriculture, mining, and domestic services.