Up to 4,000 Malaysia-bound workers failed to fly: BAIRA
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Time Digital Report: Despite having the necessary documents, up to four thousand Bangladeshi migrant workers failed to go to Malaysia due to not getting air tickets, secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said today.
"We are yet to get the final numbers on how many Bangladeshi workers have gone to Malaysia and how many failed to go there as our office is closed today. We will be able to say those tomorrow," Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of BAIRA told The Daily Star.
He said around three to four thousand Bangladeshi migrant workers might have failed to go to Malaysia as they couldn't manage air tickets as the deadline for reaching Kuala Lumpur ended yesterday.
Several hundred Malaysia-bound migrant workers waited for hours at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday amid uncertainties as the deadline for workers to enter the Southeast Asian country ended yesterday.
They came to the airport without plane tickets after the local recruitment agents promised that the tickets would be provided on time.
Throughout yesterday, the two international terminals remained packed and there were crowds in front of the terminals as well. Many of the workers reached the airport on Thursday night or earlier.
Some alleged that the recruiting agents were not answering their phones.
The situation at the Dhaka airport is now quiet and calm as migrant workers who failed to go to Malaysia left the airport, said Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director, of HSIA.
Debabrata Das, assistant director of the Expatriates' Welfare Desk, HSIA, told that they will be able to give the final statistics to the media about how many workers have been able to go to Malaysia in the last month.
In March, Malaysian authorities said workers from Bangladesh and 13 other countries would not be allowed to enter the Southeast Asian country after May 31.
Nearly 4.50 lakh Bangladeshi workers went to Malaysia between August 2022 and April this year, according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training data. The Southeast Asian country reopened its labour market for Bangladesh in 2022 following a four-year suspension.
Last year, Malaysia was the second-largest overseas job market for Bangladesh.