Bangladesh agrees with EU to work on taking back ‘irregular migrants’

Dhaka has agreed with Brussels to work on taking back “irregular migrants” from the European Union.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Feb 2017, 09:04 PM
Updated : 15 Feb 2017, 09:04 PM

Both sides agreed “to finalise work on the Standard Operating Procedures regarding the return of irregular migrants with no right to stay in the EU as soon as possible,” according to a joint statement.

The statement was issued after the second ‘Diplomatic Consultations’ between the EU and Bangladesh on Wednesday in Brussels.

Dhaka was, earlier, informed that 80,000 Bangladeshi nationals were staying illegally in various European countries.

The two sides also agreed to launch an information and awareness-raising campaign on the risks of ‘irregular migration’ with a workshop on Feb 28 this year in Dhaka.

Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific Gunnar Wiegand led the EU side while Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh side in the meeting.

The agenda included political developments on both sides: the EU global strategy, trade and investment - including everything but arms - and other issues of bilateral importance.

Irregular migration

Irregular migration refers to the illegal movement of people to work in a country without authorisation to work. However, according to the International Organisation for Migration, there is no clear or universally accepted definition of the term.

The issue came to fore in Dhaka in 2O15 when thousands of Bangladeshis have been found in the queue of middle-eastern countries’ refugees who entered Europe fleeing war.

The EU has been facing the biggest migration challenge since World War II, mainly due to the wars in Syria and Libya.

But the 28-countries bloc has been insisting Dhaka start the process to take back the Bangladeshis who they have labelled as “economic migrants”.

Dhaka was also informed last year that there were 80,000 such Bangladeshi nationals staying illegally in various European countries.

The EU also offered cooperation in this process, which includes “a special program for reintegration of returnees”.

Intensifying cooperation

Matters of regional and global interest where the EU and Bangladesh can “intensify collaboration”, such as connectivity, migration, peace and security, terrorism, Agenda 2030, were also discussed, according to the joint statement.

The EU and Bangladesh also agreed to intensify cooperation on HORIZON 2020 and jointly explore new areas for cooperation such as science, technology, and innovation, space issues.

Both sides recognised “the importance of ongoing people-to-people contacts, including under the ERASMUS programme, and emphasised on the need to jointly explore new avenues for such contacts which could, among other things, be of particular benefit to youth”.

Both parties also agreed to work on the common agenda “with a view to reaching concrete progress and deliverables, which will be reviewed in the course of the next consultations, to be held in Dhaka in 2018”.

The meeting was held in “a constructive and cordial atmosphere”.