KUALA LUMPUR: More than 70,000 Bangladeshi workers are expected to arrive here soon to work in the plantation, construction and services sectors, said the Bangladesh High Commission labour counsellor Talat Mahmud Khan.
Although there was a temporary freeze on the intake of foreign workers in the services sector, the visas of these Bangladeshi workers were approved before the restriction was imposed.
Despite the economic downturn and retrenchments, Bangla-deshi workers are still in demand as they are known to be hardworking, efficient and do not demand a high salary, said Talat.
The arrival of the latest batch would swell the number of Bangladeshi workers to almost 500,000.
Talat said the main grouse of the Bangladeshi workers here was that many of them were not given proper living quarters and medical benefits as promised by their employers.
They were also unhappy with the delay in the renewal of visas which sometimes took up to three months.
This caused anxiety because they were considered illegal immigrants and many were arrested by the Malaysian Immi-gration, said Talat.
The Bangladesh High Commis-sion has set up a halfway centre in Semenyih to house such workers.
On a separate matter, Talat hoped that the Malaysian Govern-ment would reduce the RM350 transfer fee for workers wanting to change their sector of work.