Dhaka: Dismissing media reports about the suspension of Bangladeshi workers’ recruitment to Malaysia, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam on Tuesday said the labour market in the Southeast Asian country has not been closed to Bangladeshis.

‘The Malaysian government has decided to suspend the recruitment procedure through the Foreign Worker Application System, locally known as ‘Sistem Pengambilan Pekerja Asing (SPPA)’, from September 1,’ the minister said, reports the UNB.

‘Once they make the changes, the labour market will be opened to Bangladeshis,’ the minister said while briefing reporters at a Meet-the-Press programme organised by Reporters for Bangladeshi Migrants (RBM) at Prabashi Kalyan Bhaban in the capital’s Eskaton area.

Recently, a number of newspapers published reports that Malaysia is going to suspend hiring workers from Bangladesh.

The minister said, ‘After the suspension of the system, the workers will be sent through the previous G2G system.’

Nurul Islam also said the Bangladesh Embassy in Malaysia is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Malaysian government on Tuesday in this regard. ‘A joint-working group will fix the next system through discussions,’ he added.

Responding to another query about corruption allegation against 10 private agencies of Bangladesh who send workers to Malaysia through online system SPPA, the minister said show-cause notices will be served upon those agencies.

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Dr Namita Halder who was present on the occasion said the process to send around 25,000 workers is in the pipeline.

‘The recruiting process of workers who have already got visas will be completed through the present system,’ she added.

Responding to another question about the returning of female workers from Saudi Arabia, the minister said important reasons behind it are linguistics and food-habit problems.

He, however, did not dismiss the allegation of torture and sexual harassment of the female workers.

RBM President Firoj Manna presided over the meeting while its General Secretary Masudul Haque moderated it.