Bangladesh interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday urged Malaysia to issue multiple-entry visas to Bangladeshi workers employed in the country to facilitate their return home as and when required.
The chief adviser raised the issue when Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Mohd Shuhada Othman called on him at the State Guest House Jamuna, said a press release issued by the Chief Adviser鈥檚 press wing.
Professor Yunus also urged the high commissioner to facilitate the entry of 18,000 Bangladeshi workers who missed the deadline to join their work in the Southeast Asian country in May 2024.
In August 2022, Malaysia reopened their labour market after keeping it suspended for more than four years over corruption allegations. Nearly five lakh Bangladeshis migrated that time before the market was closed on May 31 amid syndication and corruption allegations.
Around 50,000 Bangladeshi aspirants failed to migrate to Malaysia after completing almost all the processes by the May 31 deadline set by the Malaysian authorities. Of them 16,970 aspirant migrants failed to fly to Malaysia at the last moment for want of air tickets only.
In October, Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim after a bilateral meeting in Dhaka announced that they had agreed to consider issuing 18,000 work visas for those Bangladeshis who got stuck and could not fly due to some recent measures by the Malaysia government.
Malaysia is a top destination for Bangladeshi migrants as nearby 10 per cent of total workers migrate to Malaysia which is over 12 lakh since 2004.
The HC said that a joint technical committee featuring the officials of Malaysia and Bangladesh held a meeting in this regard in Kuala Lumpur on December 31, and a similar meeting was planned for Tuesday.
Yunus said that Bangladesh looked forward to a convenient date from the Malaysian side to attend the fourth Bilateral Consultation Mechanism in Kuala Lumpur.
He added that Bangladesh was also prepared to hold the foreign minister level 鈥榝ifth joint commission鈥� meeting in Dhaka, preferably by mid-2025.
Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary to SDG affairs, was also present on the occasion.