Italy concerned about illegal immigration from Shariatpur, Madaripur: Shahe Alam

Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro has requested the government to take steps to control the flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, particularly from Shariatpur and Madaripur districts.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam said this to reporters after emerging from a meeting with the Italian envoy at the secretariat in the capital on Monday.
“The Italian ambassador expressed his country’s concern about illegal immigration during a meeting with LGRD Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan at his office, given the ministry’s close links with grassroots people,” said Shahe Alam, who, along with senior officials of the ministry, was present at the meeting.
The state minister said Italy’s concern about illegal immigration has reached such a level that the ambassador could even remember the words “Shariatpur” and “dalal”, a middleman.
Acknowledging the presence of a large number of undocumented immigrants in Italy, Shahe Alam said nearly 60 to 70% of the 250,000 Bangladeshis living in Italy were from the Shariatpur and Madaripur regions. He said the Italian ambassador had proposed organising joint workshops in the Shariatpur, Madaripur and Faridpur regions involving local administrations and public representatives to raise public awareness about the risks of travelling to Italy illegally by sea.
Shahe Alam said, “10,000 Bangladeshi workers get the opportunity to go to Italy every year. Including their families, this number rises to 12,000. It is legal, but going to Italy from a third country by sea is dangerous, as many die along the way.”
Shahe Alam said the meeting with the Italian ambassador discussed enhancing the skills of Bangladeshi workers. To improve their language skills, he said Italy will work with an institute in Bangladesh and send Italian trainers to train local trainers.
The state minister also disclosed a plan for Bangladesh’s Khulna City Corporation and the authorities of Milan to work jointly on food waste and security.

When asked about his comment on sending 200,000 workers to the Malaysian labour market from September, a claim rejected by the concerned authorities, he declined to comment.