Italy interested in recruiting more Bangladeshi workers: Jahangir

Home Adviser Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Retd.) today said Italy has expressed keenness to recruit more skilled manpower from Bangladesh.  

“Italy is interested in taking more skilled and trained workers from Bangladesh legally,” he said.

He was speaking to journalists after coming out of a bilateral meeting with Interior Affairs Minister of Italy Matteo Piantedosi at the conference room of the Home Ministry at Bangladesh Secretariat here this afternoon.

Matteo Piantedosi arrived in Dhaka today on a two-day official visit.

Jahangir said that Bangladeshi workers are very hard-working and are making an important contribution to the economy of Italy.

Italy is interested in taking skilled workers from Bangladesh through a legal process, he said.

However, the European country has completely discouraged the tendency to cross the sea to Italy with visas from other countries, he said.

Jahangir said that Italy has sought Bangladesh's cooperation in preventing illegal immigration and human trafficking and want to work closely with Bangladesh to address the issues.  
 
The Home Adviser has requested the Italian minister to pursue a process to legalize Bangladeshis who have already illegally entered Italy from Bangladesh.

Replying to a question, about attack on the NCP leader Hasnat Abdullah, he said 54 people have already been arrested in this connection.

“No one who tries to commit such incident will be given any concession,” he said.

The meeting discussed prevention of illegal immigration, policies and measures adopted by Bangladesh to suppress immigration-related crime networks, strengthening bilateral cooperation in crime prevention and justice processes and bilateral agreements on cooperation in the security sector, said a press release of the Home Ministry.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Home Ministry, Md. Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, Senior Secretary of the ministry, Nasimul Ghani, and others concerned were present in the meeting from Bangladesh side.

Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro, Diplomatic Adviser of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Macro Villani, and Deputy Head of Cabinet, Sabina Madaro, Central Director of Immigration and Border Police, Claudio Galzerano, among others, were present from Italy side.