09/09/2026
Recruitment Groups from Four Source Countries Call for Open Access to FWCMS
Government Must Explain Who Decides
Which Agencies Get Access.
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐖𝐂𝐌𝐒
𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬
The Malaysian Government must explain whether the restrictions placed on recruitment agencies from four migrant worker source countries under the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) were made as a matter of government policy, or soley determined by the Bestinet, the private operator of the system.
This question has become even more pressing after recruitment industry associations from Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan issued a rare joint statement expressing serious concern over syndication, potential monopolistic practices and private control in Malaysia’s migrant worker recruitment system.
The four associations called for all legally licensed recruitment agencies to be given fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to FWCMS.
In Nepal, only 25 agencies out of more than 1,100 were approved, with some of the selected companies reportedly having no prior track record in migrant worker recruitment.
Bangladesh initially faced a similar arrangement, where only 25 agencies were allowed direct access to FWCMS. Following protests, the number of participating agencies was expanded to 338, including the state-owned BOESL. However, the additional agencies were classified as Associate Recruiting Agencies, meaning they would still have to conduct their business through the original 25 agencies.
Despite the concerns raised jointly by the four countries, there has yet to be a clear public explanation from the Ministry of Human Resources or any other relevant government agency on the fundamental issue of access to FWCMS.
Why are only selected agencies given access to the system? Who determines the list — the Malaysian Government, or the private operator of FWCMS?
The fact that the list in Bangladesh could be expanded from 25 to several hundred agencies shows that this is clearly not a technical limitation. The Ministry of Human Resources therefore owes the public, employers and the source countries a clear explanation of how these decisions are made.
As Chairman of the Southeast Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC), I am also concerned about the reputational impact on Malaysia.
Migrant worker recruitment involves substantial financial interests and has long been associated with allegations of vested interests and corruption. A rare joint statement from four source-country recruitment associations cannot simply be ignored.
Malaysia government must be able to explain why it is in a position to determine which recruitment agencies in another country are permitted to participate in the recruitment process. Without a transparent explanation, it will be difficult to dispel concerns that access to the system may be concentrated in the hands of a small number of players.
I therefore call on Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Ramanan Ramakrishnan to clarify whether access to FWCMS is determined by the Government or by a private company.
If the list is determined by the Government, the Ministry must disclose the selection criteria, legal basis and approving authority.
If it is not a government decision, then the Ministry must explain why a private company has the discretionary power to decide which legally licensed recruitment agencies may participate in Malaysia’s migrant worker recruitment system.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑭𝑾𝑪𝑴𝑺 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑.
Migrant worker recruitment directly affects Malaysian SMEs, migrant workers and our relations with source countries. Allowing a private company or a small group of intermediaries to exercise excessive control over access risks creating monopoly, higher recruitment costs and greater vulnerability to worker exploitation.
LEE CHEAN CHUNG
Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya
Chairman, Southeast Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC)
