Malaysia, a major destination country for Nepali workers, has stated that it is creating a 'system' to recruit workers only through government mechanisms to eliminate recruitment costs. It

The Malaysian Ministry of Human Resources has stated that it is creating a fair (transparent) recruitment system through the government mechanism, citing exploitation of workers due to third parties, modern slavery due to debt.

‘We are creating a system that allows Malaysian employers to directly recruit foreign workers with the aim of eliminating third-party agents or middlemen from the recruitment process of foreign workers,’ said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan in an interview with local media outlet The Daily Star. ‘This is currently being discussed with the Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant stakeholders. It will then be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.’

According to him, the involvement of third-party agents (manpower) in the recruitment of foreign workers has been a problem in Malaysia. ‘The goal is to establish Malaysia as a fair recruitment center by 2028. Malaysia has been included in the US State Department’s ‘Trafficking in Persons Report.’ "It is part of a broader effort to improve this," he said. "The proposed system will allow employers to communicate directly with foreign workers. This will help solve the problem of middlemen and reduce unnecessary foreign employment costs incurred in recruiting foreign workers."

Malaysia has been considering Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar as its main sources of workers. On October 27, Malaysia had set 10-point criteria for manpower companies to send from all five countries to further strengthen the practice of decent labor migration. The process did not move forward after some countries, including Nepal, rejected it. A few months later, preparations were made public to proceed with the recruitment process directly through the government mechanism.

There is a labor agreement between Nepal and Malaysia to send workers at zero cost. According to the agreement, Malaysian employers have not recruited all workers at zero cost. Only a few employer companies are bearing all the costs of the workers. In this, Nepal's manpower company has to pay a commission to the Malaysian manpower company to obtain the employer's demand letter. Due to which the cost of labor is increasing significantly. 'Many foreign workers complain that they did not get the promised work after arriving here. On the other hand, there are reports that foreign workers have paid a fee of US $ 5,000 to $ 8,000 before setting foot in this country,' he said, 'The proposed system will be ready within this year. This is to avoid the situation of having to pay excessive 'agent fees'. The aim is to make arrangements to get suitable foreign workers according to the needs of the employer.'