Around four thousand Bangladeshi migrant workers failed to go to Malaysia due to not getting air tickets, secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said today.

“We are yet to get the final numbers on how many Bangladeshi workers have gone to Malaysia and how many failed to go there as our office is closed today. We will be able to say those tomorrow,” Ali Haider Chowdhury told media.

He said around three to four thousand Bangladeshi migrant workers might have failed to go to Malaysia as they couldn’t manage air tickets as the deadline for reaching Kuala Lumpur ended yesterday.

Several hundred Malaysia-bound migrant workers waited for hours at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday amid uncertainties as the deadline for workers to enter the Southeast Asian country ended yesterday.

They came to the airport without plane tickets after the local recruitment agents promised that the tickets would be provided on time.

Throughout yesterday, the two international terminals remained packed and there were crowds in front of the terminals as well. Many of the workers reached the airport on Thursday night or earlier.

Some alleged that the recruiting agents were not answering their phones.

The situation at the Dhaka airport is now quiet and calm as migrant workers who failed to go to Malaysia left the airport, said Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director, of HSIA.