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PETALING JAYA: The government of Bangladesh has contacted the Malaysian high commission in Dhaka in an attempt to resolve the problem of thousands of migrant workers stranded at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yesterday it was reported that some 25,000 migrant workers had returned to Bangladesh on vacation but were unable to return after Covid-19 broke out earlier this year.
Several of the workers held a demonstration in Dhaka on Monday to ask their government to intervene so they could return to Malaysia. They said the visas for most of them had expired.
They also asked the Bangladeshi government to provide financial assistance because they have been out of work for more than seven months.
Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Masud Momen spoke with Malaysia’s High Commissioner-designate Hazna Md Hashim in an online meeting on the matter and sought the support of the Malaysian government in solving the stranded workers problem.
New Age Bangladesh, citing diplomatic sources, said that Masud urged the Malaysian government to regularize the workers’ visas.
According to the news outlet, Hazna said she would raise the matter with the appropriate authorities in Malaysia.
He also suggested that issues regarding stranded workers could be discussed in the joint working group of the two countries on workers, according to the report.
He cited a diplomat who said the joint working group meets as needed.
