Bangladesh's labour market to Malaysia is set to reopen, but recruiting agency owners allege a familiar "syndicate" is re-emerging under a new guise, with a handful of lesser-known agencies now positioned at the centre of the process instead of previously influential firms.

Twenty-five recruiting agencies have been finalised to send workers to Malaysia this time. Of them, 17 have no prior experience sending workers to the country. The remaining eight agencies have together sent only 1,612 workers to Malaysia over nearly 23 years, according to an analysis of data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) covering January 2004 to August 23, 2026.

Several members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) allege that the masterminds behind the earlier syndicate remain active behind the new structure. They claim this could push the cost of sending a single worker to Malaysia up to Tk 6-7 lakh, compared with an average of Tk 5.44 lakh previously found in various studies.

Among the 25 selected agencies, several - including Tania Trade, Satkhira International, A-Plus, Al Hayat Overseas, Velly Trade, Khan Jahan Ali Overseas, Bengal Human Resource, Earth Smart, At Takwa, Motherland, Mangrove, Jewel Rinku Enterprise, Bangladesh One Overseas, Onneshaa Air, Chandpur International, Godness Services, and Valuka Overseas, have no prior experience sending workers to Malaysia.

Valuka Overseas obtained its recruiting licence in 2022 and has secured clearance to send 235 workers so far this year, but has not yet sent any worker to Malaysia. Its owner, Md Abu Sohag Khan, said he previously sent more than 1,000 workers to Malaysia through other agencies, and that his firm was selected automatically through Malaysia's own process without any payment involved.

Malaysia's Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) software, Maidgram, is owned by Bestinet, a company headed by Bangladeshi-origin Malaysian national Amin Ul Islam Bin Abdul Noor, known as Amin Noor.

Allegations suggest he controls the entire worker recruitment trade from Malaysia, with former BAIRA secretary general Ruhul Amin, alias Shopon, acting as his representative in Bangladesh.

The two are accused of jointly deciding which agencies would be included in the "syndicate." Shopon is currently in hiding abroad; his recruiting licence has been revoked, and he faces a case as well as an ongoing probe by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Several of the selected agencies also face separate allegations and cases. The ACC wrote to BMET on July 23 seeking information on 57 recruiting agencies named in a case investigation, including three among this year's selected list, Godness Service Limited, General Trading Company, and Rifa International.

BAIRA members estimate that keeping an agency within the syndicate could cost around 5,500 Malaysian ringgit (about Tk 168,000), with a further 8,000-9,000 ringgit (roughly Tk 265,000-275,000) needed per worker for demand letters or visas - potentially pushing the outflow to over Tk 430,000 per worker.

Alongside the 25 main agencies, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has allowed 312 more agencies to work as "associate recruiting agencies," though they cannot send workers directly and must operate through the main 25.

BAIRA members say this is effectively a strategy to bring back the old syndicate in a new structure, noting that while nearly 1,400 agencies were once listed with FWCMS, only 10 were allowed in 2016 and 25 initially in 2022, before the number rose to 100.

State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Nurul Haque said Bangladesh had sent a list of 423 recruiting agencies to Malaysia, from which Malaysia finalised 25 through its own process, while several hundred more were allowed as associates at Bangladesh's request.

He said the government would set a cost ceiling to ensure workers can go at lower expense, and any agency found involved in trafficking or corruption would be reported to Malaysia, with licence revocation if necessary.

The ministry said the selection process was carried out by a high-level joint committee comprising Malaysia's human resources, foreign affairs and home ministries, its anti-corruption commission and law enforcement agencies, without direct involvement of the Bangladesh government.

It added that the process for sending workers to Malaysia is still ongoing and further details will be announced through official notices in due course, while cautioning the public against middlemen, brokers and fraudulent groups, and against making any transactions before the process is finalised.

Following several rounds of bilateral discussions on reopening the Malaysian labour market, the government has said Malaysia has agreed in principle, on special request, to take 10,000 Bangladeshi workers free of cost, to be sent through state-run Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) as part of a fresh start to the labour market.

The ministry said its goal under the new system is to ensure workers can migrate at lower cost and with greater transparency.