Bangladesh the top source nation for low skilled foreign workers

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that the Bangladeshi foreign workers made up 37 percent of the foreign workers in Malaysia which makes Bangladesh the top source nation for low skilled foreign workers in Malaysia.

“As of June 30 this year, the Immigration recorded 803,332 active holders of the Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) among Bangladeshi workers.

“This is equivalent to 37% of the total foreign workers work force that makes Bangladesh the top source nation for low skilled workers.

“In the year 2022, a total of 49,353 Bangladeshi workers were recorded coming into Malaysia after our borders were reopened post Covid-19.

“In 2023, the government introduced Foreign Workers Hiring Relaxation Plan – a temporary mechanism to to speed up and ease the hiring of foreign workers.. Upto 397,548 new Bangladeshi foreign workers came in.

As for the number of Bangladeshi Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) holders who returned, in 2022 there were 20,331 holders who were sent back by their employers.

In 2023, 23,065 Bangladeshi holders were sent back.

A total of 790 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants also were arrested in both 2022 and 2023 for overstaying.

Saifuddin revealed all of the above in his written reply to Hassan Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) who asked for the statistics on Bangladeshi foreign workers.