The Migrant Welfare Network (MWN) has submitted a memorandum to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment demanding compensation, rehabilitation, justice, and accountability for hundreds of Bangladeshi workers who returned from Malaysia after facing abuse and fraud. The memorandum was handed over on Monday during a meeting with the expatriates’ welfare minister.

According to returning workers, they had spent between 500,000 and 550,000 taka to go to Malaysia in 2023 and were employed by companies such as Mediseram and Kawaguchi. They alleged that the companies withheld salaries for over five to six months, confiscated passports, and subjected them to forced labor and physical abuse. The minister reportedly assured them that the responsible recruitment agencies would be summoned and that compensation and blacklisting issues would be addressed.

The workers’ demands include immediate payment of due wages, full compensation under international standards, return of seized passports, cancellation of blacklists, effective rehabilitation programs, and legal action against exploitative agencies. They also called for zero-cost safe migration, reform of complaint mechanisms, and inclusion of workers in migration policy-making.