{
  "id": 5882177,
  "title": "Santiago beri amaran masalah pengambilan pekerja asing berulang",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/santiago-beri-amaran-masalah-pengambilan-pekerja-asing-berulang",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-06T01:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/09/06/santiago-beri-amaran-masalah-pengambilan-pekerja-asing-berulang"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malaysia will halt the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers as of May 31, 2024, due to concerns over high recruitment fees, fake job syndicates, and forced labor. Former Klang Parliament MP Charles Santiago warns that any attempt to bring in more Bangladeshi workers risks continuing the long-standing issues in Malaysia's foreign worker recruitment system. Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives from Bangladesh, Mir Shahe Alam, stated that Malaysia plans to take on approximately 200,000 Bangladeshi workers over the next six months, a claim denied by Employment Minister R Ramanan. Santiago suggests that any future recruitment must include protective measures to prevent the same problems from recurring. He believes that the government must first address structural issues within the existing recruitment system, such as excessive payments made to workers and the involvement of multiple intermediaries. His main concern is the structure that allows 25 Bangladeshi worker recruitment agencies to control access to the Malaysian labor market, resembling the previous system. Concerns about the flow of workers between Malaysia and Bangladesh are not new. In 2024, a group of UN Human Rights Commission experts reported allegations of recruitment fraud involving a network in both Bangladesh and Malaysia, where workers were subjected to excessive payments, debt traps, and some eventually arrived in Malaysia without any jobs. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported in February 2024 that over 733 Bangladeshi workers were cheated into coming to Malaysia for non-existent jobs and were paid up to RM1 million in advance. North-South Initiative Executive Director Adrian Pereira acknowledged Malaysia's demand for foreign workers but stressed that their recruitment must be legal, transparent, and free from forced labor. Pereira said civil society lacks sufficient information about how foreign workers are recruited and how quotas are allocated, without any independent audit or ombudsman overseeing the recruitment system. He emphasized that excessive recruitment fees have led workers into debt traps, while Malaysia still lacks a comprehensive basis for foreign workers to ensure the recruitment fees are not passed on to them. \"Everyone must ensure that workers are not paying to get a job,\" he said. \"Workers should not pay to get a job, in line with ILO standards, supply chain standards, and the Malaysia-Bangladesh 2021 agreement.\" Pereira also urged that training be given before departure, upon arrival in Malaysia, and before starting work so that Bangladeshi workers understand their contracts and rights before entering a potentially exploitative situation. He warned that limiting recruitment to 25 agencies would not comply with ILO fair recruitment standards and could lead to the formation of cartels, as seen in the past. Pereira also stated that terms between employers and recruitment agents must be clear.",
  "summary": "Bekas Ahli Parlimen melahirkan kebimbangan terhadap masalah berpanjangan dalam sistem pengambilan pekerja asing di Malaysia.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Santiago beri amaran masalah pengambilan pekerja asing berulang",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/santiago-beri-amaran-masalah-pengambilan-pekerja-asing-berulang-5884173",
        "published": "2026-09-06T01:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}