Gov’t to Lift the Cap on Recruitment of Bangladeshi Unskilled Labourers

MV+ News Desk | December 18, 2023
Photo: MV+

The government has officially lifted the ban on the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh, a limit implemented in 2019 as part of efforts to address the pervasive issue of undocumented migrant workers.

In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology declared the immediate revocation of the ban and the subsequent permission for the recruitment of unskilled laborers specifically from Bangladesh. Notably, this decision does not extend to laborers from other countries, as clarified in the official announcement.

The initial cap on the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh was implemented in September 2019, with the former Economic Minister, Fayyaz Ismail, citing the need to limit the number of unskilled workers from each source country to 150,000. 

This cap had allegedly been reached for Bangladeshi laborers when accounting for undocumented workers.

Fayyaz Ismail, currently serving as the chairperson of the main opposition MDP, strongly criticized the decision to lift the ban. He characterised it as a “threat to national security, economy, and the social fabric” of the Maldives, highlighting what he perceives as a violation of the Employment Act by allowing only unskilled Bangladeshi workers.

The original ban on unskilled labor from Bangladesh, initially intended for one year, was later extended and formed part of the previous administration’s comprehensive initiative to address the challenge of undocumented migrant workers.

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