Bangladeshis in Malaysia
| মালয়েশিয়ায় বাংলাদেশি | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 500,000 (2015 est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Peninsular Malaysia | |
| Languages | |
| Bengali, Malaysian | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bangladeshi diaspora |
The Bangladeshi Malaysians consists of people of full or partial Bangladeshi descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia. Bangladeshis in Malaysia form a large proportion of Malaysia's foreign labour force. When both legal and illegal residents are included, their population was estimated to total 500,000 persons, roughly one-sixth of all the foreign workers in Malaysia as of 2009[update]. In early 2016, a controversial agreement by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was conjured to send a total of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers in stages for 3 years to Malaysia. This decision was met with criticism from both individuals in government and the general Malaysian public and was quickly revoked.
Bengali people have long established in Malaysia, history record demonstrated that the traders from the Bay of Bengal had been involved in commercial activities in the Sultanate of Malacca in the 15th-16th century.
During the colonial era, both British Malaya and the Strait Settlements received Bengali-speaking communities bought by the British from the Bengal Presidency that constitute modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. The mass arrival from Bengal correlated with the larger migration from British India to work with the colonial government and companies. Many of them consist of traders, policemen, coolies, plantation labourers and colonial soldiers. This pioneer migration are largely taken place from the late 18th century to the 1930s. Today, there are estimated that around 230,000 people of Bengali ancestry in Malaysia. Among the legacy of the pioneers is the Bengali Mosque in Penang which was built in 1803.
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