1st June 2024: Controversial Malaysian migrant worker management system BESTINET gets new lease, sources say
The government will extend its relationship with BESTINET Sdn Bhd, with the continued use of the controversial Foreign Worker Management System (FWCMS) for another three years starting today.
Original Source: Malaysiakini by S Vinothaa & Alyaa Alhadjri – 1st June 2024
However, the terms of the agreement with the company, which has played a growing role in migrant recruitment over the years, remain unclear.
See also Daily Star 2nd June 2024: Controversial recruitment system to stay 3 more years
See also Daily Star 2nd June – Jobs in Malaysia: Mismanagement left over 3k workers with no ticket to KL
Industry sources told Malaysiakini that the government will retain greater control over the processes.
This includes reducing the amount Bestinet gains per worker, from RM100 to RM80.
According to a government source, the cabinet agreed to extend the use of FWCMS on May 29 after reviewing a paper presented by the Home Ministry.
The renewal will also clearly draw the roles of the two ministries that manage migrant workers in the country.
“The Home Ministry will own the system, while the Human Resources Ministry will be the end user of the platform,” explained the industry source.
However, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail did not respond to queries when contacted.
Malaysiakini has also reached out to Bestinet president Aminul Islam Abdul Nor for comment.
Weaknesses in FWCMS
The cabinet decision came after the 2022 Auditor-General’s Report, published last year, revealed that FWCMS had many weaknesses making it susceptible to manipulation, with instances of conflict of interest and breach of governance and control.
The auditor-general also could not find a clear method for how the tool was implemented.
Despite seven years of operation, there was still no agreement between the government and Bestinet, which left the government’s rights unclear in the arrangement.
Government auditors found no signed contract detailing company obligations and the unauthorised use of the Human Resources Ministry’s super admin accounts by Bestinet.
Another alarming factor in the relations between Bestinet and the government was the issuance of a letter of acceptance by the Home Ministry to develop, supply, provide, and maintain FWCMS for six years from April 1, 2018, to May 31 this year.
The Auditor-General’s Report said this agreement involved 14 modules valued at RM1.049 billion.
PAC also found issues
The report triggered a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into this mechanism.
However, the findings from the PAC investigation may be too late to influence the decision to renew.
The committee’s findings will only be tabled in Parliament when the august house convenes later in June.
According to sources, the committee’s initial findings also found issues with the application of FWCMS and certain key players.
The roles of the two ministries in managing FWCMS had been compromised.
Bestinet officials were among those who testified before the PAC.
Last week, it was reported that the government was under pressure to renew the lease with the platform linked with trafficking allegations, despite the intentions of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s regime to overhaul the system.
Channel News Asia, quoting government sources and documents sighted, reported that the contract with Bestinet to operate FWCMS, the sole platform used by the Immigration Department for visa applications from 15 labour-sending countries, was set to expire yesterday.
Government sources told CNA that privately controlled Bestinet, a firm with strong ties to top politicians and a history of controversy, was pushing back against the government’s migrant labour reform agenda.
Background Reading:
See also Daily Star 2nd June – Jobs in Malaysia: Mismanagement left over 3k workers with no ticket to KL
See also Daily Star 2nd June – Jobs in Malaysia: Mismanagement left over 3k workers with no ticket to KL
FMT 31st May 2024: Expect Bangladeshi workers to be stranded and at high risk of modern slavery following Malaysian migration management deadline rush, warns activist
SCMP 31st May 2024: Malaysians shocked by thousands of Bangladeshis crowding at airport to beat deadline for legal work, as UN and activists warn of increased modern slavery risks
CNA 31st May 2024: Over 30,000 workers set to miss deadline to enter Malaysia even as officials clear backlog at KL airport
Prothomalo 31 May 2024 – Bangladesh – Malaysia’s labour market: Repeated syndicates, repeated closure
Prothomalo 31st May 2024: Bangladesh – Thousands of people crowded Dhaka airport without flight tickets to go to Malaysia
31st May 2024: Govt reaffirms commitment to protect migrant workers’ rights to UN
31st May 2024: The closure of the labor market in Malaysia has shattered the dreams of 31,000 workers
Daily Star 31 May 2024 – Recruitment in Malaysia: Syndicate siphons over $1b out of Bangladesh
Daily Star 30th May 2024: Manpower syndicates beyond Dhaka-KL control
CNA 30th May 2024: ‘Congestion’ at KL airport as employers scramble to bring in thousands of migrant workers before deadline
MALAYSIAKINI 30th May 2023: ‘Migrants influx at KLIA due to employers chasing deadline’
30th May 2024 Benar News: Malaysia’s labor market closed – Migrant workers flock to airports in all countries
29th May Daily Star: Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia – Hiring begins with bribery (UN independent experts say Bangladeshi workers pay up to 8 times for migration alone due to corruption of Malaysia ministries, Bangladesh mission and syndicates)
29th May Daily Star: Airfare to Malaysia surges fivefold
FMT 28th May 2024: Malaysia yet to respond to UN concerns on alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant victims for forced labour in the country(with my full statement included)
30th May Star: Cyclone smashes Bangladeshi workers’ hopes, extension requested
Channel News Asia 25th May 2024: Malaysia’s bid to revamp hiring of foreign workers through controversial BESTINET process faces pushback; activists say country’s reputation at stake
20th May 2024 FMT: Duped Bangladeshi workers won’t impact Malaysia’s US Human trafficking report ranking, says HR Minister Sim
Malay Mail 17th May 2024: Pengerang employer to face Labour Court in Malaysia after failing for months to pay Bangladeshi workers’ wages over RM1m (government statements and my comments included – months on, court agreed mediation settlement unforced, workers allegedly remain in situation akin to acute modern slavery)
16th May 2024: Firm that left over 700 Bangladeshi workers to dry in Pengerang facing possible prosecution (months on, court agreed mediation settlement unforced, workers allegedly remain in situation akin to acute modern slavery)
14th May 2024: FMT – Activists warn of US trafficking report downgrade for Malaysia amid UN criticism
9th May 2024: Study: 96% of Bangladeshi workers going to Malaysia fall into recruitment debt– The study also said that 82% had two or more loans and 73% of workers spent at least 50% to 100% of their monthly salary to repay recruitment debts
4th May 2024: UN agencies concerned over Bangladeshi workers stranded in Malaysia – Joint Statement of ILO, IOM and UNODC on Alleged Criminal Syndicate Trafficking Bangladeshi Workers for Forced Labour in Malaysia
24th April 2024: Address plight of duped Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia in response to UN warning, govt told (more on the ongoing saga of an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi migrant workers for forced labour in Malaysia)
FMT 19th April 2024: UN experts sound alarm over plight of duped Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia
For more on Andy Hall’s complaint to the OHCHR see 30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council
See Daily Star 23rd Apr 2024: Bangladesh Plight of Migrant Workers – Bangladesh, Malaysia working group meeting likely in May
See Daily Star Editorial 23rd Apr 2024: When even legal migrants suffer – Workers migrating to Malaysia legally deserve better protection
Business Standard 23rd April 2024: Expat Ministry reviews UN complaints on Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia
Prothomalo 23rd April 2024: Bangladesh – Ministry reviewing allegations over Malaysia labour market
BenarNews Malay Language: Pakar PBB gesa Malaysia tangani layanan buruk diterima pekerja Bangladesh (UN expert urges Malaysia to handle bad treatment received by Bangladeshi workers)
Daily Star 19th Apr 2024: UN experts express dismay over situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia
FMT 19th Apr 2024: PSM, news portal set aside order to stop debate on migrant workers’ plight
Daily Star Editorial 17th April 2024: Save our migrants in Malaysia (more on the crisis caused by an alleged criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia)
9th April 2024 The Star – Bangladeshi victims of criminal syndicate trafficking worked for forced labour in Malaysia: ‘Cops after workers, not rogue employers’
7th April 2024: SCMP – As Malaysia’s door closes on low-paid migrant workers, companies scramble for staff (and a systemically corrupt migration management and recruitment policy, devoid of the rule of law and leading to impunity and gross exploitation, is revealed)
6th April 2024 Daily Star: A hostel of nightmares for Bangladeshi migrants allegedly trafficked by criminal syndicate for forced labour in Malaysia (and Daily Star Op Ed)
Daily Star Editorial 6th Apr 2024: What will happen to migrants abandoned in Malaysia?
26th March 2024: The Star – Freeze on foreign workers hiring quota in Malaysia stays for now, says HR Minister (with estimated 200,000+ surplus foreign workforce victims facing destitution and abuse)
Daily Star 25th Mar: Malaysia employer framed Bangladeshi workers
Daily Star 24th Mar 2024: Jailed in Malaysia – 3 Bangladesh workers released
Editorial Prothomalo 24th Mar 2024: Malaysian labour market – Take action against the fraud syndicate
FMT 23rd March 2024: PSM calls on Sim to look into arrest of Bangladeshi workers
MALAYSIAKINI 23 Mar 2024: Stranded foreign workers (alleged victims of criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshi workers for forced labour in Malaysia) nabbed after labour complaints against employer
23rd March 2024 The Star: Half a million vulnerable and irregular foreign workers disappear from Malaysia’s migrant worker regularization programme as deadline looms in one week
23 Mar 2024 The Star: Verification rate lags as RTK 2.0 deadline approaches
22nd March 2024 Malay Mail: Home minister – Over RM9m in fines collected so far through migrant repatriation programme
22nd March 2024 Protomalo: Malaysian labour market set to be closed again due to syndication
20th March 2024: 93 duped/detained Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia have jobs now, says immigration DG
20th Mar 2024 Business Standard: Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia: Coalition of migration orgs demand action against recruiting agency syndicate
19th March 2024: FMT – Plantation firms wary of ‘forced labour’ concerns in hiring 200,000 surplus foreign workers/criminal syndicate victims in Malaysia, says minister – indeed he’s right, who wants to take on destitute foreign workers often with US$4-7000 in debt?
17th March 2024: FMT – Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers utterly shameful
New Age 16th Mar 2024: Bangladeshi government must mend issues to keep Malaysia job market open
15th March 2024 SCMP: Malaysians deride minister’s idea to rebrand palm oil workers as ‘specialised harvesters’
14th March 2024: The Star – Opinion: When work in Malaysia is a con – the criminal syndicate trafficking Bangladeshis for forced labour in Malaysia
FMT 13th March 2024: Bangladeshi migrants file police reports after falling victim to job scam/criminal syndicate trafficking workers from Bangladesh for forced labour in Malaysia
12th March 2024: SCMP – Malaysia to slash migrant workforce amid intolerance, job scam crisis involving Bangladeshi labourers
Daily Star Editorial 10th March 2024: Migrating to a life of unemployment
Daily Star 10th Mar 2024: Distressed in Malaysia – Thousands of Bangladeshi migrants jobless, unpaid or underpaid
9th March 2024: Malay Mail – Activists warn rushed 31st March visa deadline in Malaysia could force firms to source foreign workers unethically (includes my commentary on the abrupt policy change)
9th Mar 2024 The Star: No extension of May 31 foreign worker deadline
NST 9th Mar 2024: Keep recruitment agencies in a list rather than shutting them down, govt told
See also NST 9th Mar 2024: Sourcing migrant workers takes time, ‘not like buying cattle’, employer groups tell govt
NST 8th Mar 2024: Eliminate middlemen from migrant worker recruitment process, govt told
Star 8th Mar 2024: May 31 deadline for foreign workers recruitment under recalibration programme remains, says Saifuddin
Malay Mail 8th Mar 2024: Saifuddin Nasution: No more agents for Bangladeshi worker recruitment
6th Mar 2024: Malaysian government halts foreign worker entry into the country from 31st May 2024 (final calling visa/VDN approval issuance deadline 31st March 2024) as migrant worker management crisis worsens and victims of gross exploitation, unemployment and destitution rise significantly
6th March 2024: Business Times –Sudden change in foreign worker policy by Malaysian government leaves industry in limbo
6th Mar 2024 Edge: Foreign worker intake deadline changes will leave manufacturers in the lurch, says FMM
6th Mar 2024 FMT: Industry players shocked by foreign worker policy change, says FMM
Mar 5 2024: NCCIM urges govt to review unused foreign worker quota deadline
FMT 3rd Mar 2024: Ensure ‘crooks’ do not gain from repatriation programme, says activist
Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: A chance for illegals to go home
Mar 2nd 2024 The Star: Sarawak immigration extends RTK2.0 until June
Mar 1st 2024 FMT: 600,000 foreign workers urged to take easy exit home
Mar 1st 2024 The Star: Use repatriation programme to return home, 600,000 illegals told
Feb 28th 2024 The Star: New programme lets migrants off the hook without being prosecuted
Feb 25th 2024 The Star: Businesses want foreign worker hiring freeze lifted
Jan 31st 2024 NST: Govt to implement Migrant Repatriation Programme starting March
Jan 31st 2024 The Edge: Cabinet agrees to extend freeze on hiring of foreign workers, says home minister
31st Jan 2024 FMT: Migrant repatriation programme set for March 1
31st Jan 2024 The Star: Migration Repatriation Programme to commence on March 1, says Home Ministry
FMT 6th Jan 2024: 171 duped migrant workers deserve compensation, govt told (includes my full statement)
5th Jan 2024: New Strait Times – MCA: Don’t just fine employers, hold ministry accountable as well for unemployed foreign workers
FMT 30th Dec 2023: Migrants being duped into Malaysia because of govt’s failure to curb criminal trafficking syndicates and organised crime network, says activist Andy Hall
30th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – Recruitment agencies accused of deception as Bangladeshi victims speak out on exploitation and fear
29th Dec 2023: Malay Mail – Set up probe on exploitation of migrant workers and new ministry to manage their affairs, Suhakam tells Putrajaya
28th Dec 2023: FMT – Malaysia has entered ‘slave labour’ territory, says ex-MP – Charles Santiago calls for specific set-ups to manage migrant workers
27th Dec 2023: New Strait Times – MTUC demand govt, MACC probe into corrupt recruitment practices of foreign workers
26th Dec 2023: FMT – High recruitment fees make greedy agents bring in workers, says group
25th Dec 2023: FMT – Probe recruitment agents, MACC told after arrest of Bangladeshis
22nd Nov 2023: MALAYSIAKINI – Full probe of migrant worker syndicate, Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar says
9th Nov 2023: Malaysia – The State of the Nation: Flaws of foreign worker system laid bare in declassified report
30th Oct 2023: FMT: Andy Hall refers stranded Bangladeshi workers’ plight in Malaysia to UN Human Rights Council
20th Oct 2023 Malaysiakini: Long-awaited foreign worker management report declassified in Malaysia (my comments added)
19th Oct 2023: Malaysia facing huge excess of 1/4 million migrant laborers
21st Sep 2023: Malaysian government has 15 source countries for foreign workers – Comments by Andy Hall
20th Sep 2023: Rate of abused Bangladeshi workers’ entry into Malaysia worrying, says migrant rights activist Andy Hall
Aljazeera News TV 10th July 2023 – Migrants in Malaysia: Hundreds left stranded in recruitment scam
Reuters 11th Apr 2023: In Malaysia, migrants say they are in limbo after promised jobs fall through
25th April 2023 Sarawak Post: Malaysia And Modern Slavery – ‘PM Must Take Control’
23rd April 2023: REUTERS: Malaysia probes cases of migrant workers left jobless, without passports (with background summary and articles included in my blog post)
17th April 2023 Daily Star: Approval For Labour Recruitment – Malaysia’s transparency questioned by Bangladesh
FMT 13th April 2023: Stranded Bangladeshis endure ‘hell’ in Malaysia – The group of 35 now wants to go home after being left without jobs for months
11th Mar 2023 MALAYSIAKINI: Malaysian HR Minister Sivakumar – Zero checks for migrant quota approvals only until March 2023
13th Feb 2023: My Perspective published by FMT – ‘Time to address corruption in Malaysia’s migrant worker management’
10th Jan 2023: ‘Bangladeshi recruitment cartels’ grip must end’ – Govt now acting on billion-ringgit ‘human trafficking syndicates’
1st Oct 2022 Malay Mail: PM Anwar says Putrajaya to Ease Rules on Hiring Migrant Workers
7th July 2022 The Vibes: How Bestinet courted controversy over migrant worker recruitment – MACC’s raid on IT company once again casts spotlight on alleged hiring monopoly
June 2022 The Star: Human Traffickers made RM2 billion through syndicate smuggling in over 100,000 workers from Bangladesh
