On Monday (12 October), the matter was discussed at a bilateral meeting held at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Minister of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ariful Haque Chowdhury. The EU delegation was led by the organization's Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner.
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Bangladesh-EU to work together to prevent illegal migration and human trafficking
At the meeting, Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said the government is working to ensure regular migration and restore discipline in the migration sector. To prevent irregular migration, licenses of 52 recruiting agencies have already been cancelled. He also sought EU cooperation to increase skilled Bangladeshi workers' access to the European labour market.
Ministry Secretary Md. Mokhtar Ahmed said that under the Bangladesh-EU Talent Partnership, EU cooperation is needed to create employment opportunities for Bangladeshi workers in the information technology, construction, textiles, shipbuilding, agriculture, and hospitality sectors. Assistance has also been sought for skills assessment and certification according to European standards, language training, development of a digital recruitment system, and rehabilitation of returnee workers.
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EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner said the EU is ready to provide cooperation to ensure migration through legal channels alongside curbing illegal migration and human trafficking. He also said that currently about 500,000 Bangladeshis are legally residing in various countries of the European Union.
Brunner also said that due to a stable government and situation in Bangladesh, there has been improvement in the case of applications for political asylum, and Bangladesh is being considered a safe country.
The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md. Nurul Haque, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr. Md. Shakirul Islam Khan, senior officials of the ministry, and members of the EU delegation.