KUALA LUMPUR: Lured by promising job prospects in Malaysia, a 34-year-old national Bangladeshi now faces the dual challenges of making ends meet and grappling with mounting debt.
Formerly an imam in a local surau, Rahman, as he wishes to be known, decided to leave his position after being assured by agents that Malaysia held the key to a stable job and improved living conditions.
Rahman disclosed to FMT that he borrowed RM20,000 to secure this opportunity, risking his family's financial well-being.
"The agents told me I no longer have to be an imam. That coming to Malaysia would mean an easier life. They said we could earn up to RM3,000 a month.
"Without delay, my family and I decided to borrow money to pay the agents so that I could change my family's fate," Rahman shared with FMT reporters during their visit to his house.
However, four months after arriving in Malaysia, Rahman finds himself without the promised employment.
Instead, he shares a congested shophouse in Kajang with over 90 other Bangladeshis, grappling with substandard living conditions and meagre food options.
Hailing from Naogaon, a district in northern Bangladesh, Rahman is now tormented by the thought of his wife and two daughters going hungry because of financial difficulties.
"I must get a job as soon as possible," said Rahman, who assumes the role of an imam at his makeshift dormitory during prayer times.
Living in a shophouse in Kajang with over 90 other Bangladeshis, Rahman's makeshift dormitory lacks basic amenities, raising concerns about compliance with housing standards.
They share two bathrooms, lack a kitchen and electrical appliances, and survive on a diet of white rice and chapati with dhal.
"Since coming to Malaysia, I have not touched a piece of chicken or fish," Rahman said.
Despite paying hefty fees to agents in Bangladesh, the other migrants also claim that their passports are held by agents in Malaysia, leaving them stranded without jobs.
Some have resorted to lodging police reports and seeking intervention from the labour department.
One of the migrants, Rubel, a 33-year-old fluent Bahasa Malaysia speaker, worked as a lorry driver in Kuala Lumpur for seven years but was sent home in 2022 for lacking a valid work permit.
"This time, I came the proper way, but the agents cheated me," Rubel said, revealing he borrowed money from moneylenders to pay the agents.
During a visit by Papsma, the national association of private employment agencies, basic supplies were provided to the migrants by hiring agencies like Pekerjaan Ami Awana, Pekerjaan Associates HR (KL), Pekerjaan Swaslink and Pekerjaan HR Assist.
Papsma also told FMT that the Bangladeshis were moved to another dorm in Kuala Lumpur yesterday by their agents after their plight drew the attention of the media.
The plight of foreign workers who have been promised jobs but failed to be employed upon their arrival in Malaysia has caught the attention of various quarters, including the relevant ministries.
The Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry had come down hard on the the company responsible for bringing in 171 Bangladeshi men and promising them non-existent jobs in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
In a joint statement, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution and Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said the company had been blacklisted, its remaining quotas revoked and would face legal actions under relevant laws.
For Plantations and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, he had proposed that companies be fined up to RM30,000 for each foreign worker brought in who is not employed after a month.
He said the proposed penalty was aligned with the gravity of the offence.
In support of Johari's suggestion, former Klang MP Charles Santiago urged the government to impose substantial fines on companies guilty of misleading foreign workers with false job promises and took the proposition a step further, recommending a higher fine of at least RM50,000 to be levied against each unscrupulous company for every deceived worker.