The Hidden Costs of Migration: Evaluating the Bangladesh – Malaysia Corridor

Malaysia has been employing millions of Bangladeshi migrant workers since the 1980s. In 2012, the governments of Malaysia and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on labor migration. The memorandum, known as the G2G (government to government) program, allowed Bangladesh to send migrant workers to Malaysia’s plantation sector. The G2G program was later reformed into the G2G Plus program in 2015 which expanded to include several other sectors. However, reports of corruption, malpractice, and exorbitant recruitment fees in the migration process of Bangladeshi migrants resulted in the Malaysia Government abolishing the MoU in 2018.