Malaysia Suspends Nepali Worker Recruitment in Agency Dispute

Recruitment of new Nepali workers for jobs in Malaysia is suspended, and workers already in the pipeline cannot move. Malaysia's Foreign Worker Centralised Management System stopped registering new workers for biometric and medical screening in October, a step every worker needs before a calling visa can be issued, and the two governments are arguing over who is allowed to recruit them.

A dispute over 25 agencies

Malaysia selected 25 principal recruitment agencies in August, each to be supported by 10 subsidiary agencies, for a total structure of 25 principal and 250 subsidiary companies. Nepal's Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has refused to approve the selection and has objected repeatedly to the process, insisting the existing system should stay in place until the two countries agree on a new one.

Bestinet Sdn Bhd, the company that operates the management system, has said screening registrations will reopen only once the 25 designated principal agencies are activated. Malaysia's Human Resources Minister, Ramanan Ramakrishnan, wrote to his Nepali counterpart, Ramji Yadav, on October 6 reaffirming that Malaysia will keep its chosen structure. Nepal has proposed a joint working group meeting on November 18 and 19, or on December 2 and 3, to settle the dispute and renew the labour memorandum of understanding.

Legal pressure in Kathmandu, and a large number of workers affected

Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment has begun legal proceedings against the operators of the 25 companies and has warned that the companies' bank accounts and travel permissions could be frozen if their operators do not contact the authorities within 35 days.

The stakes are large for Nepali households. As many as 132,000 Nepalis went to Malaysia for work in the last fiscal year alone. Recruitment of new Nepali workers in Gulf countries has shrunk by more than 52 percent amid rising tensions in the Middle East, which had made Malaysia look like a major alternative destination. Until the screening registration reopens, new workers cannot complete the medical step, cannot receive calling visas, and should not pay any agency on the promise that the route is open.