BD to take back its irregular migrants from Europe

French Ambassador to Bangladesh Sophie Auber called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office yesterday morning.
French Ambassador to Bangladesh Sophie Auber called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office yesterday morning.
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UNB, Dhaka :
The government has in principle decided to take back its irregular migrants from Europe after proper verification of their nationality.
Bangladesh has also agreed to sign the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with the European Union (EU) on their from the EU countries.
Earlier, the EU said it will continue to press Bangladesh to conclude the negotiations on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the return of irregular migrants from the EU by the end of this month.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant Ministries on Tuesday discussed in details on the draft SOP in an inter-ministerial meeting, said a diplomatic source. Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque presided over the meeting.
Meeting sources said Bangladesh wants to take time instead of fixing a deadline in completing the process to make sure that the verification process is done properly and transparently.
An unofficial source said some 80,000 to 93,000 Bangladesh nationals are living in the European countries in an ‘irregular’ or ‘undocumented’ state.
Bangladesh and the EU had an in-depth discussion on migration during the eighth Joint Commission held recently in Brussels.
The Bangladeshi delegation provided at the meeting their amendments to the draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the return of irregular migrants from the European Union, which were submitted to them in June 2016.
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