Desk Reports:
40,000 Bangladeshi citizens have sought political asylum in the European country of Italy. The government has been asked to cooperate in hiring Bangladeshi workers legally in the country. Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro informed this information at a meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
According to the meeting sources, there are currently more than 200,000 Bangladeshis legally residing in Italy. There are 70,000 Bangladeshis illegally residing in Italy. Bangladeshi citizens provide various fake documents and incorrect information to go to Italy. Due to this, the Italian government recently canceled the work no-objection certificates of 30,000 Bangladeshis.
An official present at the meeting said that the Italian government has expressed interest in taking workers from Bangladesh legally. However, Bangladeshis are number one on the list of people going to Italy illegally. The country has expressed concern about this. The Italian government is going to prevent illegal entry. For this, they have sought the cooperation of the Bangladesh government.
Another official present at the meeting said that currently 40,000 Bangladeshi citizens have sought political asylum in Italy. However, the country’s government has rejected 98 percent of the applications. The Italian ambassador spoke about various issues including preventing human trafficking. The Bangladesh government signed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with the Italian government a few months ago on various issues including illegal immigration and legal travel to Italy.
When asked about the overall situation, Additional Secretary (Political and ICT Division) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Khandaker Md. Mahabubur Rahman told Ajker Patrika that the Ministry of Home Affairs works on immigration. That is why the Italian ambassador came. Discussions were held on how Bangladeshi citizens go to that country, the various problems they face there, what to do next to stop these illegal immigrations in the future , and the formulation of a law for that purpose.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi discussed various issues, including preventing illegal entry of Bangladeshis into Italy, during his visit to Dhaka last May.