Dhaka: A group of 20 workers went to Malaysia on June 19 under the “Zero Cost Migration” programme. These workers left Dhaka for Kuala Lumpur on a Malindo Airlines flight at 11:00 pm.

The “Zero Cost Migration” programme is supervised and implemented by Mohammed Ruhul Amin Shawpon, Proprietor of Catharsis International and former Secretary-General of BAIRA.

The job of the Instyle Sofa Sdn Bhd (employer) was allocated in favour of Imperial Resources Ltd through an auto allocation system which was procured and managed by JG Alfalah Management.

A press conference was organized on June 19 at 11:30 am at the Catharsis Complex located in the capital where the Proprietor of Catharsis International Mohammed Ruhul Amin Shawpon, Proprietor of JG Alfalah Management Mohammad Sohel Rana, and Managing Director of Imperial Resources Ltd Mohammad Mahbubor Rahman, among others, were present.

Senior officers from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and the BMET also attended the programme.

A good number of media personnel both from print and electronic media covered the event.

After the initial briefing, Chairman of the Catharsis International and the Ministry’s representatives replied to the questions of the journalists.

They also spoke with the workers.

Later, there was an online video conference with Md Nazmus Sadat Salim, Minister (Labour) at Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

He briefed the journalists on the prospects of Bangladeshi workers working in Malaysia and particularly on the scope of “Zero Cost Migration” there.

In the ILO Policy of fair recruitment initiative, some internationally reputed firms in Malaysia have recently agreed to recruit workers on “Zero Cost Migration”. The employers will bear all the costs of such migration including expenses in Bangladesh and in Malaysia like Passport, Medical, Visa, Insurance, Air Ticket etc.

These workers will get a minimum pay of RM 1500, overtime and other benefits as allowed under the labour law of Malaysia. They will enjoy better benefits and facilities than Middle Eastern countries, said a press release.

It may be mentioned here that, migration of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia started in August 2022 and by now around 200,000 workers have gone to Malaysia.

They found jobs and availed all pay and allowances as per the job contracts.

As the Government of Malaysia introduced auto allocation system under the purview of a holistic online based system “FWCMS” (Foreign Workers Centralised Management System), there is hardly any problem being faced by the workers.

However, in case of any problem the Malaysian authorities, the employers, agencies concerned and the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur have been sincerely trying to mitigate those issues and so far, there has been no any noticeable problems.