KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Bangladesh State Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury has pleaded with the Malaysian government to grant a one-off extension for almost 17,000 stranded workers after they missed the May 31 deadline to enter Malaysia, local news site Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

The minister said that many of the workers have used up their savings or are in debt just to pay the agents for documentation.

"We anticipated this problem,” the minister reportedly said, adding that Dhaka had sought an extension two weeks ago.

A typhoon, a lack of flights and the agent’s poor management prevented the workers from travelling to Malaysia in time, Choudhury said.

He said that he is scheduled to meet the Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Haznah Md Hashim, on Wednesday.

He also said that he hopes the Malaysian government will consider the predicament faced by the workers "whose future depends on getting jobs in Kuala Lumpur”.

All the stranded workers possess approved calling visas from the Malaysian Immigration Department and valid cards from Bangladesh’s Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, he said.

However, on March 8, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was reported to have said that the ministry would not extend the May 31, 2024 deadline for the hiring of foreign workers through the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK) 2.0 due to national security reasons.

FMT also reported that there were claims of workers having to pay extra for their flights and meeting demands for high recruitment fees by agents.

To address this, Choudhury said the ministry will appoint a six-person committee to investigate.

On May 30, a large contingent of foreign workers reportedly entered Malaysia via both terminals of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh reportedly said that this was because employers were rushing to meet the foreign worker deadline on May 31.