The governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia are still in a quandary over Aminul Islam, a Malaysian citizen of Bangladeshi origin, and his foreign worker recruitment agency, 'Bestinet'. Although a request was made from Bangladesh to detain two people from the company, Malaysia has not yet agreed to it. Instead, the company is working as before in the foreign worker recruitment process in Malaysia.
This Bestinet Sdn Bhd is responsible for the online registration and collection of information of foreign workers in Malaysia.
Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Sunday (November 10) that Bangladesh has requested the arrest and extradition of Bestinet founder Muhammad Aminul Islam and his associate Mohammad Ruhul Amin. They have received an application from Bangladesh to detain the two. However, no specific reason for sending them to Bangladesh was mentioned in the application.
He said that the application sent from Dhaka did not mention any specific reason. Dhaka should explain the matter. Will these two be questioned for investigation or will they be brought before the court based on the allegations?
He said Dhaka needs to clarify the matter. If they want to question them for investigation, then they will have to follow the regular process.
The company has been accused of corruption in the recruitment process of Bangladeshi workers for almost a decade. However, this is the first time that Dhaka has indicated that it will take action against the company. There are allegations of money laundering and human trafficking against Bestinet.
The Malaysian Home Minister said that Dhaka can only request to send them back to Bangladesh if the allegations against them are clarified and there is an arrest warrant against them through the case. He said that the matter has also been discussed with the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General.
Earlier, on October 24, 2024, Bangladesh Interpol requested the Malaysian branch of Interpol to arrest the two. Bangladesh Police Inspector Ashiqur Rahman and a government official made this request. However, Malaysia said that the details were not mentioned in the application.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Aminul Islam's lawyer, Datuk N Sivananthan, said that such allegations have not created any distance in the work of Bestinet with Malaysia's Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS). Rather, work is continuing normally.