Porimol Palma

When Malaysia resumed hiring Bangladeshis in August 2022 after a four-year hiatus, governments of the two countries agreed that a worker would have to spend just Tk 78,990 to get a job in the Southeast Asian country and fly there.

UN independent experts say Bangladeshi workers pay up to 8 times for migration alone due to corruption of Malaysia ministries, Bangladesh mission and syndicates

Bangladesh could become a regional hub for trade and investment in the wake of ongoing geopolitical tensions and growing focus on the Indo-Pacific region, according to Paul J Thoppil, Canada’s trade representative for the Indo-Pacific.

Mobs attacked medical students, including Bangladeshis and Indians, in Kyrgyzstani capital Bishkek on Friday and now they are staying indoors fearing further attacks

Mobs attacked medical students, including Bangladeshis and Indians, in Kyrgyzstani capital Bishkek on Friday and now they are staying indoors fearing further attacks.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu yesterday told the government they will support the withdrawal of sanctions against Rapid Action Battalion, Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman said.

Dhaka’s priority will be trade and economy, while Washington’s will be security, especially advancing partnership under its Indo-Pacific Strategy, as US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu holds meetings with the government high-ups today.

The UK wants increased engagement with Bangladesh and other partners in the Indo-Pacific region for its future security and economic prosperity, said the country’s Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Amid geopolitical shifts, Bangladesh’s emergence as an economic and diplomatic power in the Indo-Pacific region and mutual interests in trade and commerce may lead both Dhaka and Doha to elevate the existing ties into strategic partnership, said experts.

Malaysian police have been prosecuting Bangladesh migrant workers instead of the employers who have confiscated the workers’ passports and failed to provide them with jobs and salaries, alleged the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM).

The dream of a better life in Malaysia has turned into a nightmare for around 100 Bangladeshi migrant workers, each of whom had taken loans of around Tk 5 lakh to reach the country.

Nur Islam, 70, a marginal farmer in Kurigram, one of the most poverty-prone regions of Bangladesh, was overcome with excitement when he learnt on Monday that Bhutan would be setting up a special economic zone in the area.

Three Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia were framed in a case that led to their arrests for defying pressure to withdraw complaints they lodged with the police and labour department against their employer

Six Bangladeshi workers who were hired by a Malaysian firm seven months back but were not provided with jobs or salaries lodged a complaint with the Kuala Lumpur police against the company on Tuesday night.

For aspiring migrant workers in Bangladesh, Malaysia’s reopening of the labour market in 2022 for 15 source countries including Bangladesh to jumpstart its economy from the ravages of the pandemic -- was a godsend.

After some strains over the past two years, Dhaka and Washington now want to begin a new chapter in the bilateral relationship -- a desire that was expressed by both during a US delegation’s three-day visit that ended yesterday.

As fears grow that Myanmar’s civil war and refugee crisis could deepen in the coming days, foreign policy experts are calling for a diplomatic push by the regional players to facilitate reconciliation among the warring parties.

Dhaka and Paris are expected to sign Climate Adaptation Pact wroth 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) during a visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to France sometime in the middle of this year.

US-Bangladesh relations didn't need to be normalised.

Dealing with Myanmar is becoming more complicated for Bangladesh as the military of the neighbouring country is getting weaker in the face of strong resistance by the armed rebel groups that seized dozens of towns and hundreds of army posts in recent months, say experts.