Diplomatic Desk:
Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ariful Haque Chowdhury has stressed the importance of working with the UK to create skilled and international standard manpower, ensure safe and regular migration, and prevent irregular migration and human trafficking.
He stressed this during a courtesy call on British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cook at his office at the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment on Sunday (August 9).
In the meeting, the minister said that Bangladesh and the UK must work together to prevent exploitation, irregular migration and human trafficking, in addition to ensuring the rights, dignity and overall welfare of migrant workers. At the same time, he reiterated the government’s strong commitment to creating skilled and quality human resources.
The minister sought the UK’s cooperation in English language, technical and vocational training to create skilled manpower according to the needs of the UK labor market. He highlighted the importance of the UK’s cooperation in ‘green skills’ and ‘digital skills’ training, as well as enhancing the capacity of the country’s technical training centers and the Institute of Marine Technology.
The meeting also emphasized the need to continue the sustainable rehabilitation and social reintegration of returnee workers through the ongoing ‘RAISE’ project in partnership with FCDO, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank.
The minister also highlighted the need to implement the decisions of the bilateral talks held between the two countries and form a ‘Joint Working Group’ to oversee migration and skill development activities.
At the meeting, State Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Md. Nurul Haque said that training centers in Bangladesh can be linked with various institutions in the UK to develop skilled and international-standard manpower according to the needs of the European labor market. He also mentioned that if it is possible to send internationally certified workers to different countries, the youth can be further encouraged to migrate legally and safely.
British High Commissioner Sarah Cook said that she is keen to work with the UK government to create a skilled workforce in Bangladesh in line with the needs of the international labour market. She also highlighted the UK’s concerns about safe, regular and affordable labour migration from Bangladesh. In this regard, she said that cooperation should be further strengthened in developing the migration system. At the same time, the High Commissioner also expressed her support for the implementation of the ‘Global Compact on Migration’.
Regarding irregular migration and asylum seekers in the UK, Sarah Cook said that the government and people’s position on asylum seekers in the country is very strict. Currently, Bangladesh is among the top five countries in the UK’s list of asylum seekers. Recently, a small number of Bangladeshis who have applied for asylum in the UK have had their applications approved and the rest are being sent back to their respective countries, she said.
The High Commissioner also said that if someone voluntarily wants to return to Bangladesh after their asylum application is rejected, financial assistance of 3,000 pounds is provided for resettlement. However, this facility will not be applicable if someone is sent back through legal processes.
Also present at the courtesy call were Ryan Duncanson, Counselor for Justice and Home Affairs at the British High Commission in Bangladesh, Md. Mokhtar Ahmed, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and senior officials of the ministry.
