Dept freezing applications to recruit workers from Bangladesh in line with state govt’s policy

KUCHING: The state Labour Department will not process any application to bring in Bangladeshi workers into the state in line with the state government’s latest policy.

State Labour Department director Datu August Buma said:

“Since the state government finds them unsuitable, and thus not in favour of engaging them, we will not process any application to allow them to work in Sarawak.

“We will only start processing such applications if the government changes its policy on this issue.”

August told The Borneo Post that since Sarawak had full authority over immigration, Bangladeshi workers would not be able to enter Sarawak without the consent of the state.

August was responding to the recent issue that Malaysia would be bringing in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over the next three years for employment in the country.

This followed the approval of the Bangladesh cabinet in February of a draft deal for `G2G (government to government) Plus’, where Bangladeshi workers would be sent to Malaysia under governmental arrangements.

The MoU for the deal is expected to be signed within a month after the cabinet approval.

While before they used to be engaged mainly in plantation, the deal would have these workers engaged in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

After the announcement of the Bangladeshi cabinet and the confirmation by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Ahmad Hamidi, many quarters and groups raised concerns about the decision.

According to the Sarawak Labour Department’s database, as of yesterday, there are 148 valid licences to engage Bangladeshi workers. These licences were issued under Section 119 of Sarawak Labour Ordinance.

“Of these 148 licences, 120 of them are for the manufacturing sector, 26 in construction sector, and one each for mining and quarrying.

“The last two licences (for mining and quarrying) were issued several years back, and they are still valid.”

He clarified there was no limit to the number of foreign workers that can be employed under one licence.

To get a licence to engage foreign workers, the applicants must first apply for “approval in principle”, which August called “AP”

In applying for AP, the employers would have to state the number of foreign workers needed, their nationalities, and the industries they were expected to be engaged in.

With the approval of AP, the employer can then submit their applications for foreign worker licences. The licences issued will contain details such as names, passport numbers, countries of origin and employment period of the foreign workers.