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Hoping to change the lives of their families for the better, tens of thousands of men borrowed lakhs to fund the migration process. However, a rude awakening awaited the Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia: there was no work for them.

More than 400,000 Bangladeshis went to Malaysia since the reopening of the labour market, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training. In fact, Malaysia recruited the highest number of workers from Bangladesh -- more than 351,000 workers only in 2023.

Many of them are now jobless, unpaid or underpaid...

The 30-year-old Jahirul got a construction job at Beaks SDN BHD in Kuala Lumpur, where he would be paid the minimum monthly wage of RM 1500 that could double with overtime and other allowances.

"But there was no work and no pay. We are provided food twice a day -- it's just rice and lentils," he told The Daily Star on March 2 over the phone from a Kuala Lumpur hotel where he and some 50 other Bangladeshis are staying.

The company hired about 600 Bangladeshis but they were not provided with any job. For a few weeks, some of them were assigned to work for other companies with lumpsum or no pay.

What is more cold-hearted is that the company is taking away the passports of foreign workers. Upon furnishing Tk 1.7-1.8 lakh, they could have their most precious identification document back.

If anyone leaves the hotel, he is not allowed to return and thus becomes illegal. In other words, the foreign workers are held hostage in the hotel...