The Trade Union–Civil Society Action Alliance (TUCSAA) has voiced serious concerns regarding the recent finalisation of a list of 25 recruiting agencies for sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia, warning that it could pave the way for a new syndicate.
In a press release issued on Monday, the alliance acknowledged that reopening the Malaysian labor market presents significant employment prospects for Bangladeshis.
However, it cautioned that the selection basis for these 25 agencies, their exact mandate, and the mechanism for distributing job demands remain entirely opaque.
According to TUCSAA, following the Prime Minister’s visit to Malaysia in June, Bangladesh submitted a pool of 423 agencies meeting eight mandatory conditions.
The subsequent emergence of a 25-agency shortlist has triggered legitimate questions over how they were chosen and whether other qualified agencies will be sidelined.
Highlighting the bitter lessons of past recruitment cycles, the alliance stressed that high migration costs, irregularities, heavy reliance on intermediaries and the concentration of power among a handful of agencies previously exposed migrant workers to severe exploitation.
It noted that Malaysia itself canceled the licence of 49 recruiting agencies in July 2026 over syndication and irregularities, making transparency vital now to prevent any reconstituted monopoly.
While the government has stated that workers will be deployed via the state-owned Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) while engaging eligible private agencies, TUCSAA demanded immediate public clarification.
The alliance urged authorities to explicitly define the operational relationship between the 25 agencies and the BOESL-led framework before any recruitment begins.
To ensure accountability, TUCSAA outlined a series of demands, including the public disclosure of agency selection criteria, strict prevention of monopolies, clear caps on recruitment costs borne by workers, pre-departure verification of employment contracts and wages and the establishment of independent digital tracking and grievance mechanisms involving trade unions and civil society.
The statement was jointly issued by TUCSAA Member Secretary Jasiya Khatoon and Convener Shakil Akhtar Chowdhury.