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Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim pledged stronger protections for Bangladeshi migrant workers connected Monday (June 22, 2026), pursuing a bid of labour abuses affecting the Southeast Asian nation's largest overseas workforce.
Around 8,00,000 Bangladeshis enactment successful Malaysia, making up a 3rd of the country's migrant workforce, who person faced unpaid wages and recruitment scams that near galore occupation seekers stranded aft paying hefty recruitment fees.
Speaking astatine a associated property league with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Mr. Anwar described "human resources cooperation, peculiarly the workers" arsenic "critical for our survival".
"This continued usage of workers being exploited, ill-treated... purely for idiosyncratic oregon institution gains cannot beryllium tolerated," Mr. Anwar said.
Mr. Rahman, who is connected his archetypal overseas travel since helium was elected Bangladesh's Prime Minister successful February, urged that recruitment beryllium made "transparent, just and affordable" with a simplification successful the fig of intermediaries.
Late past year, United Nations quality rights experts warned of "continued exploitation, deception, and deepening indebtedness bondage" facing Bangladeshi migrant workers successful Malaysia.
"We impulse some governments to intensify their efforts to guarantee that migrant workers are not criminalised oregon re-victimised, and that fraudulent recruitment agencies and different liable actors are held accountable," the experts said successful a connection issued successful Geneva.
Mr. Rahman is acceptable to depart aboriginal connected Monday (June 22, 2026) for China connected the 2nd limb of his trip. In Beijing, commercialized and infrastructure projects volition beryllium connected the agenda, according to Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry officials.
Mr. Rahman's inaugural travel overseas is bypassing neighbouring India, with whom relations person been strained since a 2024 uprising toppled the authorities of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an state of New Delhi.
Ties improved aft Mr. Rahman won elections and took implicit successful February from the interim medication that had led the state of 170 cardinal radical since Sheikh Hasina's ouster.
But frictions remain. Ms. Hasina has been successful hiding successful India since fleeing the gyration and Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her extradition. India has agelong been wary of neighbouring China's determination clout and the world's 2 astir populous countries vie for power successful South Asia.
