KUALA LUMPUR - The Bangladesh government has assured returnee migrant workers affected by alleged arbitrary repatriation from Malaysia that it will work to address their demands, including compensation and the return of confiscated passports.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Minister of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, gave the assurance during a meeting with a group of returnee migrants at the ministry on Tuesday, as cited from The Daily Star.

Among the demands raised by the workers were the return of passports allegedly held by their former employer, Mediceram, and the removal of blacklisting restrictions in Malaysia.

“We have demanded that our passports that were confiscated by our former employer, Mediceram, must be returned to us.

“We also have been blacklisted in Malaysia and we should be relieved of it,” said Ibrahim Nahid, one of the affected workers.

He also said the workers wanted job opportunities in Malaysia at zero cost once the labour market reopens.

“We also demanded that we are provided jobs in Malaysia at zero cost when the Malaysian market is open,” he said.

Nahid said about 180 Bangladeshi workers were forcibly sent back between January and March this year after they stopped working for rubber company Mediceram for failing to renew their work permits.

He said the workers had migrated to Malaysia in 2023 and experienced irregular salary payments, with some wages left unpaid.

He claimed that when workers protested the irregularities, Malaysian authorities repatriated them under the influence of their employer.

More than 50 Bangladeshis previously employed by Kawaguchi Manufacturing were also reportedly repatriated under similar circumstances last year.

The Migrant Welfare Network said the returnees had initially planned to stage a human chain protest in Dhaka.

However, ministry officials contacted them and requested that they meet the minister instead.

Some representatives attended the meeting with the minister, while others held a silent human chain outside the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

According to MWN, Ariful promised that the government would engage the Bangladeshi High Commission in Malaysia and relevant Malaysian authorities to investigate unpaid wages and blacklisting involving abuse victims.

He also pledged efforts to secure compensation from the companies involved.

The minister said authorities in Bangladesh would continue working to establish fair and transparent recruitment systems for Malaysia-bound workers to prevent future exploitation.

He added that recruitment agencies responsible for sending abused workers abroad would also be called in for investigation.