Malaysia has opened up recruiting Bangladeshi workers for any authorised agents as it plans to suspend the existing system allowing only 10 Bangladesh-based recruiting companies.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad made the announcement on Tuesday, reports The Star.
"Previously, only 10 agents were allowed to process the people wanting to come here from Bangladesh. However, this has resulted in a monopolistic situation with some charging as high as RM20,000. So, we want to open up to all agents there to allow competition," the Malaysian English daily quoted him saying.
Since late 2016, more than 10,000 Bangladeshi workers went to the country under the system, while more than 100,000 people are waiting for their turn, it said.
“It was also reported that some of the 10 authorised agents were merely fly-by-night companies created solely to rake in money by playing middleman between the workers and their prospective employers in Malaysia,” reads the report by The Star.
The Malaysian government has also decided to establish a single system to hire foreign workers without differentiating source countries.
"Bangladesh, Nepal and others, they will use the same system," Mahathir told a press conference after chairing a meeting on foreign workers in Parliament.
He said they would forming an independent panel led by either a top government official, former judge or secretary general, to be handled under the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA).
"This is to have an overview on the policies and management of foreign workers.
"We need to address these problems. We need the committee to address the issues," Mahathir was quoted by The Star.