Expat ministry’s statement and our reply

The expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry has issued a statement regarding The Daily Star’s report titled “Overseas manpower recruitment: Approval for 252 agencies raises red flags” published on January 19, 2026.

The ministry states that the approval of 252 new overseas recruiting agencies followed scrutiny of applications that had been pending since 2023. According to it, during the 16 years of the previous regime, many entrepreneurs, businesspeople, civil society members, and organisations were deprived of licences for political reasons, despite their intention to conduct legitimate business.

The ministry says that these pending applications were assessed under six criteria in line with the existing manpower export laws and the Overseas Employment and Migrants (Recruiting Agent License and Sub-Agent Registration and Conduct) Rules, 2025. Based on intelligence reports and recommendations from an inter-ministerial committee, licences were granted to 252 agencies, following assurances that no prior licence existed in the name of the applicants or their family members.

The ministry further states that out of a total of 2,646 licensed recruiting agencies, 1,865 are currently active, and that with the addition of the 252 newly licensed agencies, the number of active agencies will stand at 2,117. It argues that this number is not excessive for a country of about 180 million people and claims that strengthened digital monitoring, audits, grievance mechanisms, and punitive measures are in place to ensure accountability.

OUR REPLY

The Daily Star’s report examined the policy outcome of approving 252 new overseas recruiting agencies, which raised the total number of licensed agencies to 2,646, according to data provided by the ministry itself.

The ministry’s clarification that some applications had been pending since 2023 does not address the core concern raised in the report. The central issue is not how long the applications remained pending, but the rationale behind expanding the number of licensed agencies at a time when the labour migration sector is hit by shrinking overseas markets, persistently high migration costs, widespread complaints of fraud, and weak enforcement of rules and regulations.

More importantly, the decision directly contradicts the recommendations of the government-commissioned White Paper on the economy, released in December 2024, which explicitly called for a reasonable reduction in the number of recruiting agencies to curb corruption, exploitation, and financial irregularities. The ministry’s statement does not explain why this key recommendation was disregarded, nor does it provide evidence-based justification for reversing that policy direction.

The ministry also did not clarify what new developments, market assessments, or policy evaluations prompted the approval of such a large number of licences at this juncture. Assertions about strengthened digital monitoring and accountability mechanisms remain unsubstantiated, particularly when official data show thousands of complaints filed against recruiting agencies each year and an extremely low conviction rate in human trafficking cases.

Whether agencies are currently “active” or “inactive” does not change the regulatory reality. All licensed agencies remain legally entitled to operate at any time, and their sheer number inevitably increases the burden on an already overstretched oversight system.

It is also notable that the ministry did not dispute any factual information presented in the report, including comparative regional data, statistics on complaints, or expert opinions. The report incorporated the views of the ministry’s senior secretary, who defended the decision, and clearly stated that the adviser to the ministry did not respond to this newspaper’s requests for comment.

The Daily Star stands by its report.