The selection of 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies by Malaysia has revived an old controversy over who should control access to one of Bangladesh’s most important labour markets.
The latest TBS report says Malaysia’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) has listed 25 Bangladeshi agencies, prompting fears among recruiters that a limited-agent system could return.
The concern is particularly strong because the previous 25-agency arrangement eventually became associated with allegations of syndication, excessive recruitment fees and irregularities. The government revoked the licences of 49 agencies in July over alleged involvement in the previous Malaysia recruitment syndicate.
Now, the immediate question is whether 25 agencies are merely being listed for administrative purposes or whether they will control recruitment again. FWCMS has not clarified whether recruitment will be restricted to the 25, how job orders will be distributed or when workers will start travelling.
2016: The first limited-agent system
The roots of the controversy go back to the G2G Plus recruitment arrangement of 2016. Bangladesh had proposed 745 recruiting agencies for participation in sending workers to Malaysia. Malaysia, however, selected only 10 agencies. The basis for selecting the 10 was never explained, according to a subsequent investigation by media reports. Malaysia formally sent Bangladesh the list of 10 agencies in a letter dated 9 January 2017.
At the time, Bangladeshi officials and recruiters were already worried about a possible monopoly. The agreed migration cost was supposed to remain around Tk37,000-40,000, but workers eventually paid much more. Later reports put the actual average cost at around Tk3-4 lakh. Allegations of syndication, high migration costs and other irregularities eventually badly damaged the system.
2018: Malaysia closes the market
In September 2018, Malaysia suspended recruitment of Bangladeshi workers. Allegations surrounding the previous system included syndication, excessive migration costs, corruption and labour exploitation. The 10-agency model became a central part of the controversy.
The closure effectively ended the first major experiment with a restricted group of Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.
2021: The market is set to reopen
After more than three years, Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a new labour recruitment MoU on 19 December 2021, paving the way for the Malaysian market to reopen to Bangladeshi workers. But the question of who would be allowed to recruit immediately became contentious.
January 2022: 25 agencies emerge
On 14 January 2022, Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry wrote to Bangladesh regarding the selection of 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies. The proposed mechanism also included 250 sub-agencies. Recruitment was to be managed through FWCMS. The number immediately reminded many stakeholders of the earlier 10-agency system.
Bangladesh’s expatriates’ welfare ministry responded on 18 January, asking Malaysia to keep recruitment open to all licenced Bangladeshi agencies, arguing that wider participation would promote transparency and fairness. Recruiters also publicly warned that a new 25-agency syndicate could reproduce the problems of 2016–18.
April–June 2022: Syndicate allegations intensify
By April, a group of recruiting agencies was openly alleging that a “25-agency syndicate” was hampering labour exports to Malaysia.
In June, the BAIRA Anti-Syndicate Grand Alliance demanded that all valid recruiting agencies be allowed to participate. At the time, more than 1,400 agencies were enlisted with the expatriates’ welfare ministry.
The fundamental disagreement was now clear: Malaysia wanted a selected group; Bangladeshi recruiters wanted an open market.
2022–24: 25 becomes 101
The number of authorised Bangladeshi agencies eventually increased from 25 to 101. Bangladesh continued to push for wider participation, but the restricted system remained.
Even when other licenced Bangladeshi agencies obtained job orders from Malaysian employers, those orders had to be processed through one of the 101 agencies listed in FWCMS.
During this period, around 450,000 Bangladeshi workers travelled to Malaysia. But allegations of excessive fees, workers arriving without jobs and other forms of exploitation continued to dog the recruitment process.
June 2024: Market closes again
Malaysia suspended recruitment of Bangladeshi workers again in June 2024, citing problems that included excessive migration costs and workers arriving without jobs. The limited-agent system had once again become associated with allegations of irregularities and exploitation.
2025–26: A familiar debate returns
As Bangladesh and Malaysia began discussing reopening the market, the old question resurfaced: how many Bangladeshi agencies should be allowed to recruit?
In 2026, Bangladesh’s government said it did not want workers to be sent through a limited number of agencies and favoured access for eligible agencies. The government also revoked 49 agencies’ licences over alleged involvement in the previous syndicate.
Now, in August 2026, 25 agencies have appeared on the FWCMS list once again, bringing the saga almost full circle. The question now is: why? An official of one of Bangladesh’s top recruiting agencies said it was the Malaysian authorities who wanted to limit the number of agencies, as having too many recruiters made the system difficult for them to manage.
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