The 48-year-old, who started working for a government-owned enterprise in Pahang in 2018, told FMT his employer failed to renew his work permit in September 2023.

Despite repeatedly asking them about his work permit, the foreign worker, who only wanted to be known as “H” for fear of reprisal, said he was always told that it was “in progress”.

In November, H’s employer allegedly booked him for repatriation under the immigration department’s repatriation programme without his knowledge.

The programme is usually meant for undocumented migrants to return to their home countries voluntarily.

“My employer decided to let me go without going through the proper process,” said the former five-star hotel manager turned plantation worker.

Dissatisfied, H then took his case to the Industrial Court, where a hearing has been scheduled for March 24.

However, he is required to leave the country today under the immigration department’s repatriation programme.

H claimed he turned to the Bangladesh authorities for help. He said Bangladesh’s expatriate welfare ministry instructed its high commission in Kuala Lumpur to assist him but that the commission concluded it could do nothing after meeting the man’s employer.

H said pleas for help from international groups — including the International Labour Organization, International Organisation for Migration, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights bodies — have also gone unanswered.

“I am alone in this fight, but the world needs to know what’s happening to workers like me,” he said.

FMT has reached out to the man’s employer and the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur for comment.