Malaysia labour market: Dato Amin syndicate active again

A fresh allegation has emerged that Aminul Islam bin Abdul Noor—a Bangladeshi widely known as Dato' Sri Amin and regarded as the mastermind behind the multi-billion-taka syndicate that previously looted the Malaysian labour market—is once again attempting to form a similar syndicate. Several recruiting agency owners in Bangladesh claim that the same agencies and leaders involved in the earlier syndicate under the Awami League regime are now operating from abroad to support his renewed efforts.

In response, nearly 500 members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), including former senior agency owners, have recently submitted a memorandum to the Chief Advisor of the government. Their goal is to prevent the formation of another syndicate and to ensure that Bangladeshi workers can access the Malaysian labour market at a fair cost. The memorandum also includes proposals for revising the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Malaysia, to be discussed in the upcoming Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting, aiming to reduce costs for workers and make recruitment more equitable.

When contacted, BAIRA’s immediate past Senior Vice President Riazul Islam told Views Bangladesh, “If our proposals are adopted and implemented, it would be possible to send workers to Malaysia at a total cost of no more than Tk 150,000. All recruiting agencies would then be able to operate according to their capacity, without any discrimination.”

He alleged, “The Malaysian labour market for Bangladeshis was essentially held hostage by just two individuals—Dato Amin in Malaysia and Ruhul Amin Swapan in Bangladesh. Ruhul operated the syndicate here with the backing of Awami League advisor Salman F. Rahman.”

Riaz further alleged that several powerful figures were involved in the syndicate, including former Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal (Lotus Kamal), former MP Nizam Uddin Hazari, Lt. General Masud, former IGP Benazir Ahmed, former President of Dhaka North Jubo League Mohammad Abul Bashar, Dhaka South AL President Mahiuddin Mahi, Sheikh Hasina’s former personal aide Alauddin Chowdhury Nasim, former BAIRA EC member Kazi Mofizur Rahman, and Ali Haider Chowdhury, Member Secretary of the AL’s Labour and Employment Sub-Committee.

Khondaker Abu Ashfaq, another BAIRA member, said, “Because of the syndicate, each worker had to pay Tk 500,000–600,000 to go to Malaysia. In two separate phases, approximately 800,000 workers were sent, and the syndicate collected nearly Tk 12,000 crore in commissions. Additionally, around 2.5 million medical tests were conducted during these phases, generating about Tk 750 crore at Tk 3,000 per worker.”

According to their claims, Dato Amin received about 5,000 Malaysian Ringgit per worker, and after paying the Malaysian government, the remaining funds were shared among ministers, MPs, and leaders of the Awami League.

Mohammad Fakhrul Islam, former Joint Secretary of BAIRA, said, “Back then, getting a manpower export license required paying at least Tk 5 crore to the syndicate. Now, as the Malaysian market is set to reopen, Dato Amin has reportedly become active again. We've confirmed from multiple sources that he's charging Tk 14 crore to include new members into the syndicate, creating further inequality among agencies.”

He emphasized that the syndicate formed under Sheikh Hasina’s government must not be allowed to re-emerge under the current administration.

History of the Syndicate

According to BAIRA sources, Dato Amin’s Malaysian IT company Bestinet signed a contract with the Malaysian government to provide online support for hiring foreign workers through its Foreign Worker Central Management System (FWCMS).

However, Amin, with the help of corrupt officials and businesspeople from both countries and in partnership with former BAIRA General Secretary Ruhul Amin Swapan, exploited the system. They gained control of the entire worker recruitment process and operated the manpower syndicate.

BAIRA leaders say that although Malaysia hires workers from 14 other countries through this same online system, none of those countries face licensing restrictions, extra charges, or syndicate-related issues like Bangladesh does.

They accuse the syndicate of repeatedly misleading the government with incorrect data to recreate the monopoly, exploiting the authorities’ indifference.

In a calculated move during the previous Awami League regime, they inserted a clause on page 28 of the bilateral MoU giving Malaysia the authority to select recruiting agencies from Bangladesh. This led to an extra cost of Tk 152,000 per worker and effectively sowed the seeds of the syndicate—something not present in the agreements with the other 14 sourcing countries.

This provision has since been used to discriminate against local recruiting agencies and cause excessive cost increases for Bangladeshi migrant workers.

Alternative Proposal

Former BAIRA Joint Secretary Mohammad Fakhrul Islam stated, “Along with the list of syndicate masterminds, we’ve submitted an alternative proposal. The memorandum was signed by 453 recruiting agencies.”

He said, “We want the government to eliminate the role of middlemen by having the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, through its Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), create a central database of prospective workers. Recruiting agencies would then hire from this database and send workers through bank transactions directly monitored by BMET. This would prevent agencies from overcharging, and the total cost could be limited to Tk 150,000 per worker, enabling all agencies to participate fairly.”

He added that if the Malaysian government insists on license limitations, the process could be routed through a single government agency—Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd. (BOESL)—as the primary agent, allowing all valid recruiting agencies to work under government-set costs. This model was in practice previously as well.

The next JWG meeting is scheduled to be held later this month in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Both governments expect this meeting to pave the way for hiring up to 1.2 million Bangladeshi workers.

BAIRA insists that to prevent a repeat of the previous chaos, the government must amend or remove sub-clauses (v) and (vi) under Section C on page 28 of the current MoU. This would enable Malaysian employers—not the government—to recruit directly through Bangladeshi agencies, as is the case with the other 14 source countries.

Fakhrul Islam believes that such measures would allow workers to be sent either at minimal cost or even free of charge to RBA (Responsible Business Alliance) member companies.