Dhaka Bureau: In Europe, many aspirants cross the Mediterranean Sea illegally, while some go through the legal route. In the last two years, 50 thousand and 790 Bangladeshis entered Europe and sought political asylum.
Last Thursday, the data of the European Union’s (EU) statistical agency, Eurostat, came out. It has been said that Bangladesh has been lagging behind in seeking political asylum in Europe, but now it has risen to seventh place.
In 2021, 18 thousand 825 Bangladeshis applied for political asylum in Europe; in 2022, this number increased to 31 thousand 965. Bangladeshis prefer to live in Italy. This number is 14 thousand, 590. Next up is France. There are 10 thousand and five hundred Bangladeshis in the country. Apart from these two countries, the political asylum applications of Bangladeshis in Romania, Slovenia, Malta, and Slovakia are 1360, 825, 75, and 55, respectively.
In 2022, requests for political asylum in Europe rose by 64 percent from around the world. War-torn Syria tops the list. After this, there is Afghanistan. In 2022, three South Asian countries will be in the top ten in terms of seeking political asylum in Europe. Along with Bangladesh, Pakistan is in sixth place, and India is in 10th place.
According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, the least number of Bangladeshis sought political asylum in 2019—2,951 people. In 2018, this number was 526. In 2017, 12 thousand 731 people sought political asylum. In 2014, this number was 4 thousand 517. In 2015, 6 thousand 56 and, in 2016, 6 thousand 818 Bangladeshis applied.
According to diplomatic sources, the tendency of Bangladeshis to seek political asylum in Europe increases before elections. Most of it enters Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Although most of them do not have a political identity, they seek refuge in European countries, capitalizing on political uncertainty, the human rights situation, extrajudicial killings, and disappearances in the country. And they have to wait for a long time to get the final decision on this asylum request.
Applicants cannot return to the country during this period. And the EU cannot even call them illegal. Earlier, the organization had pressured Bangladesh to take back illegal immigrants. An agreement was also signed with Bangladesh to bring them back. Since 2017, only about 3,000 Bangladeshis have been sent back.
However, according to Eurostat’s calculations, this number is over 100,000. The EU has decided to limit the visas of Bangladeshis who are illegally staying in the EU if they are not brought back. This was proposed in the European Council due to non-cooperation in returning illegal Bangladeshis. For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held several meetings with all the Bangladeshi embassies there to return the illegal Bangladeshis in the EU.
Former ambassador M. Humayun Kabir commented that this matter should be looked into deeply. He said the trend against illegal immigration is going on in western countries. First, there has been a lack of employment due to lower private sector investment in the country. As a result, the youth themselves are finding employment in any way in the world. Second, political uncertainty. This is why private sector investment is not coming. And due to political uncertainty, the tendency of people to migrate out of the country is increasing. The current anti-immigration attitude in Europe; the former ambassador believes that if the political asylum requests of Bangladeshis increase in this way, it will affect the bilateral relations and trade.
M. Humayun Kabir said that to get out of this situation, the police and the administration should be active so that no one migrates abroad illegally. And as a medium-term plan, the government should come forward to make young Bangladeshis skilled and eliminate unemployment through training.
Bangladeshis entered Europe through Libya via several routes. The first one is from Dhaka to Dubai via Libya. After that, from there to Europe. The second is Europe directly via Turkey. If this fails, try to become Libya again. Another is from the desert of South Sudan to Europe via Libya. These Bangladeshis are kept in a circle when they cross Dhaka through these routes. After that, they are handed over to the second cycle in Dubai, Istanbul, or Sudan.
After going to Libya by plane from there, the Bangladeshis went to the third cycle. From there, after being picked up by boat, the fourth cycle, and finally the fifth cycle after going down to Europe, fell into the hands of the immigration aspirants. It costs 9 to 15 lakh taka per person to reach Libya through these routes. Aspirants face ransom and kidnapping if they do not pay as promised at all locations. Sometimes, at the hands of human trafficking gangs, one has to face a merciless and cruel end.
