The state minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, said on Sunday that a total of 50,004 Bangladeshi aspirants failed to migrate to Malaysia after completing almost all the processes.

Of them, 16,970 aspirant migrants were not able to fly to Malaysia for air tickets only as the country closed its doors to foreign workers on May 31.

The state minister came up with the figure at a press briefing held at the ministry.

He said that the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training did not issue clearance for 33,034 despite receiving all the papers to prevent further chaos.

In a press briefing, the state minister said that the expatriates’ ministry approved papers for 5,26,676 aspirant migrants between August 2022 and May 31.

However, BMET issued clearance to 4,93,642 workers, and finally, 4,76,672 migrants successfully flew to Malaysia.

Malaysia, in August 2022, reopened the market after keeping it suspended for over four years over corruption allegations.

It closed the market on May 31 again for the same reasons, sector insiders said.

They said that many other aspirants deposited their  money, passports, and other papers but saw their process remain incomplete before the deadline day.

The state minister said that they had asked the recruiting agents to give the number of migrants who could be flown to Malaysia after May 15 under special arrangements, but the agencies did not listen to the ministry.

The state minister informed reporters that a six-member committee, headed by Nur Md Mahbubul Haque, an additional secretary of the ministry, was formed to probe into the allegations of irregularities in taking workers to Malaysia.

The committee was asked to submit the report within seven days.

‘We will punish those who are found guilty,’ he said, being asked about the presence of a syndicate of recruiting agencies that charged the workers much higher than the government’s fixed migration costs.

Aspirant migrants alleged that recruiting agencies took between Tk 5 and 7 lakh from each, while the government set Tk 78,990 as the migration cost.

Recruiting agents and migrants complained that airlines charged Tk 1.5 lakh for a ticket at the last minute when their regular price was around Tk 30,000.

The state minister said that the government was trying to reopen the market again, and recent victims of anomalies would get priority if they succeeded.

Expatriates’ welfare ministry secretary, Md Ruhul Amin, urged victims to inform the probe committee of their ordeals.

He said that based on the recommendations of the committee, the ministry would set the next plan of action.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies president Abul Basher and secretary general Ali Haider did not respond to calls made for their comments.