EU team in Dhaka

The European Union will begin talks with Dhaka today to negotiate a process to be followed to deport more than one lakh irregular Bangladeshi migrants living in 28 EU countries for years. 

A high-powered EU delegation led by Paola Pampaloni, deputy managing director for the Asia and Pacific of EU Foreign Service, arrived in Dhaka to decide quick return of  undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants living in EU member countries since 2008.

Bangladesh is one of the top 30 countries whose nationals have gone to different EU countries in large numbers through illegal channels and are now staying there without any document.

Of those illegal immigrants, more than one lakh are Bangladeshis, who were detained between 2008 and 2016, according to the statistics of Eurostat. They have been labelled as “economic migrants”.

According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 5,650 Bangladeshis arrived in Italy from the beginning of this year until 22 May, accounting for 11 percent of all arrivals of undocumented migrants to the country.

The EU has not yet given any list or specific number of irregular migrants.

The delegation comprising high officials from the EU Foreign Service and Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs will hold formal discussions on the EU draft Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) submitted to the Bangladesh government in June 2016 and the amended draft finalised by Bangladesh in July this year.

The EU is determined to reach an agreement on a specific timeframe to begin the deportation of illegal migrants, while Dhaka wants “logical time” to go through its nationality verification process.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque will lead the Bangladesh side at the negotiation table.

Earlier at the eighth Joint Commission held on July 12 in Brussels, the EU expressed regret about “lack of progress” in the return of illegal Bangladeshis and issued an ultimatum to the Bangladesh government to negotiate a mechanism for their immediate repatriation.

The target is to reach an agreement on the SOPs by tomorrow under the framework of the EU-Bangladesh migration dialogue.

The Bangladesh side has maintained its position that it would bring “all the people in irregular situation back” through a nationality verification process within a “logical time.”

Dhaka has also highlighted the need for “widening the scope of safe, orderly and regular migration”.

EU officials during the Joint Commission meeting asked Dhaka to confirm the identities of arrested illegal migrants within 48 hours of receiving the list of their names. Otherwise, Bangladesh will be forced to take back the arrestees.

The EU president has also threatened to off limit the visa for Bangladeshi nationals.

Officials at the Ministry of Foreign and Home Affairs say nationality verification process is very crucial as it is apprehended that Rohingyas from Myanmar might be mistakenly identified as Bangladeshis.

Foreign Ministry officials say the government wants to verify under four categories --citizens who have long been in police custody, those who went with valid visas but later became irregular due to the expiry of their visas and other reasons, those who have passports but no valid visa to enter Europe, and those who don't have passport or any legal travel document.