Bangladesh to do ‘everything’ to take back illegal citizens from Europe: Minister

Law Minister Annisul Huq has assured European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos of taking back illegal Bangladeshis living in parts of the world.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 May 2017, 05:31 PM
Updated : 11 May 2017, 05:31 PM

Bangladesh will “do everything” for that, Huq said.

They were meeting in Brussels where the law minister and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam are currently visiting, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Referring to almost 10 million skilled and semi-skilled Bangladeshi workers abroad, Huq said Bangladesh always promotes “safe, orderly and regular migration”.

“Under no circumstances, Bangladesh will jeopardise its overseas (including EU) labour market through irregular migration.”

Commissioner Avramopoulos appreciated Bangladesh’s position and this would keep the EU’s doors open for future regular migration of Bangladeshis. In 2016 alone, 20,000 Bangladeshis got registered in EU countries, he said.

After inter-ministerial consultations, the proposed standard operating procedure for smooth repatriation of irregular Bangladeshis from Europe has been sent to the law ministry for vetting, on which he promised to take “expedited action”.

Avramopoulos emphasised the need for “close collaborative” efforts to combat trans-national traffickers and expressed willingness to work closely with Bangladesh.

He also mentioned EU’s readiness to finance projects aimed at skills development and livelihood programme for the returnees.

Bangladesh sought “sustained and strong” EU support to resolve the Rohingya refugee issue, referring to the gross violation of human rights of the Muslim population in the northern Rakhine state of Myanmar.

Both sides also discussed the scourge of global terrorism and agreed to work closely to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

The two ministers also met Vice Chair of the European Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Cristian Dan Preda.

Preda recalled his visit to Bangladesh in Feb 2015 and stressed deeper engagements among the parliamentarians on both sides.

He also referred to the positive views expressed about overall situation in Bangladesh by the MEP delegation who visited Bangladesh in March.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium Mohammed Shahadat Hossian and DG (Europe) Mohammad Khorshed A Khastagir, among others, were present in the meetings.

The law minister briefed Preda about the significant development that happened in human rights as well as law and order situation in Bangladesh since his visit early 2015.

He also conveyed that the government is putting utmost priority on ensuring rights of the people, including women and girls.

In the context of labour rights, in particular freedom of association, he apprised his EU counterparts that the draft EPZ law has been withdrawn from the parliament for further review, in consultations with all stakeholders.

Preda also accepted an invitation by the Bangladesh delegation for a visit to Bangladesh, along with his colleagues from the European Parliament.