There have been 254 cases of trafficking reported in Malaysia in 2017 alone and 67 convictions in Malaysia. Many victims come from Bangladesh with each person scammed of up to MYR 15,000 (BDT 300,000). They sell their land, mortgage their homes, borrow money from neighbours, friends and relatives only to arrive in Malaysia with no job or university to attend. Migrant88, an action-based NGO that promotes fundamental rights of migrants by ensuring that migration is safe and legal, has decided to shed some light on this phenomena.

R.AGE – a journalism wing under The Star Newspaper, Malaysia and Migrant88 went undercover to investigate the issue of the Bangladesh Study Abroad industry, both in Malaysia and in Bangladesh. During their one-year investigation, they witnessed a large number of Bangladeshi citizens who legitimately registered for studies in Malaysia being forced to toil in difficult and dangerous work conditions without proper documentation.

R.AGE and Migrant88 also discovered that those who had registered for work in Malaysia and paid the necessary fees to agents were provided with student visas that makes it illegal for them to seek employment in Malaysia. For every MYR 15,000 (BDT 300,000) spent by a student, MYR 11,000 (BDT 220,000) is spent on agent’s fee.

The result of our one-year discovery was heart-breaking – with over thousands of cases identified but only 47 cases highlighted in Malaysia and none resolved thus far under R.AGE’s NGO partners, the obvious question is “who approves the running of these shell colleges and universities and why have they existed for this long?” In the last 2 years, Migrant88 alone has encountered 140 student trafficking cases. With no other option, for fear of being arrested and subsequently deported, these Bangladeshi nationals live in the jungles of Malaysia in the fringes of highways and large drains to escape the view of enforcement agencies.

They are forced to perform work in the construction industry, hotel tourism and other odd jobs which few Malaysians are prepared to do to repay loans taken in Bangladesh with no money to return home. What’s more disheartening is that 2 out of the 7 cases under prison detention discovered by Migrant88, were minors but they were charged as adults because of agents’ attempt to doctor the document stating that they are above the age of 18 years old.

What are the governments of both Bangladesh and Malaysia doing about the agencies? Upon the release of R.AGE Documentary, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has shut down 26 visa colleges – one visa college is reported to have 5,000 students upon shutting down – and revoke their college licences, leaving thousands of students with nowhere to go and no remedy to their situation. These colleges refuse to be responsible let alone to refund the college fee paid by the victims and agents disappear once they are questioned.

In the 26 colleges that got their college licences revoked, many of the students are of Bangladeshi nationality, with a mixture of other nationalities as well; indicating this is not just an exclusively Bangladesh’s issue but an international concern.

In Bangladesh, these notorious agents operate under a cabal. Highly organized and connected, they trade information and assist each other to recruit potential victims. Students are recruited by selling them false promises of the “land of dream and hope” where these students “can study and work at the same time” for amount much higher than they would have gotten back home. Operations are so extensive, it extends beyond city centre, going into rural areas where the desperate and vulnerable are struggling to break free from their vicious predicament.

The syndicate is intricate, with multi-level agents passing on victims; each taking a cut from the fee. Migrant88 during its undercover mission in Pabna and Narayanganj last year has discovered that most travel agents double up as university recruitment agent with misleading “additional services provided for additiona; charge”. They treat the admission process as file and value is added at each stage of the admission from passport fees, medical fees, courier fees and in some cases, even money conversion fees. The situation worsens as agents now use various tactics to further exploit students through blackmail, threats, withholding of passport, kidnapping and harassment.

However, the remedy is insufficient in clamping down on this syndicate as no active stance is being taken by the government. Plenty of these cases go unreported because of corruption and weak enforcement by government authorities of Malaysia. Lengthy court cases also play a role in hindering the migrants from accessing justice. Taking on cases in court in Malaysia can be costly and time consuming, lasting up to several years, with victims not allowed to work throughout the duration of the court case. Victims are left with no option but to return home willingly or be deported while some fall through the cracks and stay hidden amongst other undocumented workers in Malaysia. What we are witnessing now is a massive crackdown of these migrants who were cheated by agents.

The situation is getting direr in Malaysia and requires urgent action on the part of both the Bangladesh and Malaysian governments.
Migrant88 therefore urges the governments of both Bangladesh and Malaysia:

i. To identify and act decisively against those who deceive potential migrants
ii. To include safe migration in academic syllabus to prevent deception of potential
migrants abroad
iii. To strengthen laws and policies around human trafficking
iv. To increase awareness on the issue of student trafficking

The purpose of this seminar is three-pronged; to alert the public on the predatory policies of agents in Bangladesh and exploitative methods used by visa colleges – with business models designed to gain maximum value at no regards for the interests of the potential migrants – and In collaboration with Eminence College, R.AGE and Bangladeshi Students’ Organization Malaysia (BSOM), Migrant88 has hosted the seminar at Eminence College, Uttara, Dhaka with the attendance of 60 attendees.

The seminar was also graced by the presence of highly esteemed Prof. Dr. Mia Enamul Hoq Siddique, the Member of National Curriculum & Textbook Board; together with guests of honour, Prof. Dr. Shamsuddin Ahmed (Director of Institutional Quality Assurance Cell, Eminence College) and Squadron Leader (Retd.) H M Akhter Khan (Principal of Eminence College).

The keynote speaker for the seminar is Khadijah Shamsul, Country Director of Migrant88 Malaysia; together with panel speakers such as Mohammmad ZR Zia (President of BSOM), Elroi Yee (Lead Journalist of R.AGE for Student/Trafficked Documentary), Zahid Rahman (Country Director of Migrant88 Bangladesh), Omar Faruk (a survivor under Bangladesh Study Abroad scam) and Prof. Dr. Shamsuddin Ahmed (Director of Institutional Quality Assurance Cell, Eminence College).

Students attended were also encouraged to create awareness amongst themselves in Bangladesh, to not fall victim to the scam and if they are aware of anyone involved or is a victim, the measures they can take to report and rescue their friends or family members.
“If there is a time to make the change, the time has to be now.”, Zahid Rahman concluded his speech for the seminar encouraging everyone to be involved and make the change, no matter how small it may seem to be.