A widening corruption probe at the Human Resource Ministry is bringing to focus fundamental flaws in Malaysia’s foreign worker recruitment ecosystem. CNA’s Leslie Lopez looks at how this can be an opportunity for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government to bring a sledgehammer to the current system.
relies on millions of migrant workers to staff plantation, factory, and service sector jobs.
Exporting labour is big business in Bangladesh and the ties between the players that control the foreign recruitment chain in both countries are very strong. The recommendations for a complete overhaul to the Bestinet-managed Foreign Workers Centralised Management System were eclipsed in Malaysia’s subsequent political strife, which saw the change of three administrations before Mr Anwar took power in November.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will have to muster the political will to overhaul the country's messy migrant labour recruitment system. But cracking down on Bestinet could prove to be politically tricky for Mr Anwar, because of the links the company allegedly has with Deputy Prime MinisterPress reports have linked Bestinet to Mr Ahmad Zahid, who is facing charges of alleged corruption in a company involved in providing visas to Nepali workers and tourists from China.
“A new agency could take as long as one year to get it up and running. We need to start somewhere,” noted Mr Santiago.
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