Prime minister Tarique Rahman’s forthcoming visit to Malaysia has raised fresh hopes for the reopening of the Southeast Asian country’s labour market to Bangladeshi workers, which has remained suspended since June 2024.

Migration experts, rights activists and recruiting agency representatives said that the issue should receive high priority during the prime minister’s first official visit abroad as head of government to one of Bangladesh’s largest overseas employment destinations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to brief the media today on the prime minister’s two-day visit to Malaysia in June 21–22.

Officials familiar with the visit preparations said that Bangladesh would urge Malaysia to reopen its labour market at the earliest opportunity.

They said that three memorandums of understanding on culture, information and trade were expected to be signed during the visit.

Migration stakeholders, however, urged the government to pursue a formal bilateral labour migration agreement rather than another memorandum of understanding, arguing that such an arrangement could help prevent future disruptions and ensure greater accountability.

‘We urge the government to reopen the Malaysian labour market under a bilateral agreement and ensure a transparent, syndicate-free migration process,’ said Syed Saiful Haque, chairman of the WARBEE Development Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working on migration issues.

The Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants, a platform comprising 31 organisations, including RMMRU, BRAC and WARBEE Development Foundation, has recently written to the prime minister, seeking a transparent recruitment system free from syndication, corruption and excessive migration costs.

The Migrants Welfare Network and a group of recruiting agencies affiliated with the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies also made similar demands.

Rights activists said that recruitment syndicates had repeatedly inflated migration costs, forcing many workers into debt and exposing them to exploitation in destination countries.

In June 2024, the labour market for Bangladeshi migrants was suspended due to systemic corruption, extortion and human trafficking allegedly orchestrated by politically connected syndicates.

Several former lawmakers, ministers and secretaries were allegedly involved in a syndicate that exploited Bangladeshi workers seeking employment in Malaysia.

In late 2021, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Malaysia and Bangladesh to reopen the labour market. Following the MoU, 100 of Bangladesh’s 2,500 recruiting agencies allegedly formed a syndicate for worker recruitment.

The selected agencies charged Malaysia-bound workers about Tk 4.5-6 lakh each, while the expatriate welfare and the overseas employment ministry set the rate at Tk 79,000.

Earlier, in 2018, a group of 10 recruiting agencies linked to the Awami League regime — which was ousted in August 2024 following a mass uprising — were involved in the syndication of migration to Malaysia.

Migration experts alleged that the syndicate had lobbied in both Bangladesh and Malaysia for the signing of the agreement, enabling it to charge exorbitant fees to migrant workers.

According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, nearly 13 lakh Bangladeshis have migrated to Malaysia since 2009, making it the country’s fourth-largest overseas labour market despite repeated suspensions.

Malaysia first suspended recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in 2009. The market reopened in late 2016 before being suspended again in September 2018 amid allegations of corruption and irregularities. Recruitment resumed in 2022 but was halted again in March 2024.

Since the latest suspension, only 772 Bangladeshis have migrated to Malaysia, according to BMET data.

Former BAIRA secretary general Ali Haider Chowdhury said that reopening the Malaysian market was essential if Bangladesh hoped to expand overseas employment opportunities.

‘There is no alternative to reopening the Malaysian market if the country wants to increase labour migration and meet growing overseas employment demand,’ he said.

Migration experts warned that prolonged closure of a major labour destination could increase the risks of illegal migration, human trafficking and labour exploitation.

Interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus visited Malaysia in August 2025, when the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding and exchanged three notes of understanding covering cooperation in areas such as defence, energy, research, business, higher education and diplomatic training.

The interim government’s tenure ended when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government assumed power following the February 12 national election.

Foreign ministry officials said that Bangladesh would seek to advance earlier commitments during the prime minister’s visit.

‘We are hopeful that the visit will produce a positive outcome regarding the reopening of the labour market,’ Saiful Haque said.

Prime minister’s adviser Humayun Kabir was contacted for comment over phone and via text message, but he did not respond.