About 8,000 Bangladeshi workers to go to Malaysia in first phase: Foreign ministry

Foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Islam addresses a weekly briefing at the foreign ministry in Dhaka on 27 January 2025.Foreign ministry

About 8,000 Bangladeshi workers have become eligible to go to Malaysia in the first phase, foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Islam said Monday.

Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, who is also the director general of Public Diplomacy Wing, was addressing a weekly briefing at the foreign ministry.

The spokesperson said the Bangladesh high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur met the Malaysian home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail at the latter’s office on 5 December last year where the issue of 18,000 Bangladeshi workers failing to go to Malaysia was discussed.

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail proposed to form a joint technical group consisting of the Malaysian immigration and the Bangladesh high commission to bring them to Malaysia gradually.

Spokesperson Rafiqul Islam said the formation of joint technical group followed two meeting on 31 December last year and 14 January this year. At those meetings, Bangladesh informed the Malaysian authorities that initially 7,964 out of over 17,000 workers have initially become eligible to go to the Southeast Asian country after verifying information with the Malaysian stakeholders, he added.

Replying to a query on the process of sending workers, Rafiqul Alam said the joint technical committee will determine it through discussion.