Dr Momen requests Irish govt to ease visa procedure

Foreign Minister Dr AKM Abdul Momen has requested the Irish government to ease and facilitate visa procedure for Bangladesh nationals.

He made the request during a telephone conversation with Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney Tuesday, a foreign ministry press release said on Wednesday. 

The Minister also informed his Irish counterpart about the availability of a huge pool of IT experts in Bangladesh as high as 600,000 whose expertise could be used by Ireland.

The Bangladesh foreign minister also has urged Irish buyers to honor their import contracts from ready-made garment (RMG) units of Bangladesh considering the dire consequence of economic fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the talk, Dr Momen expressed concern that many foreign buyers are showing irresponsible behavior by dishonoring their import contracts from Bangladesh amid COVID19 that is adversely affecting 4 million RMG workers here most of whom are women.

The Irish foreign minister highly lauded Bangladesh’s extraordinary generosity in hosting 1.1 million persecuted Rohingyas from Myanmar.

“Bangladesh has played a very significant role in extending temporary shelter to this huge number of Rohingyas, a number almost equivalent to a quarter of the population of Ireland,” said Coveney, who also holds the portfolio of deputy premier of his country.

In reply, Dr Momen expressed deep concern that there was no progress in repatriation of Rohingyas as till to date Myanmar had not taken a single of its national back.

The Bangladesh minister urged European Union (EU) countries to exert more pressure on Myanmar so that it takes its Rohingyas back.

“The situation has become untenable for us,” he said, adding that the EU countries should step forward and share the responsibility.

Thanking Ireland for its continued support on Rohingya issue, Dr Momen hoped that if elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), Ireland would play a more robust role in the UNSC.

The Irish Deputy Prime Minister assured Ireland’s continued support and active engagement in this regard.

The Irish Minister also applauded the leadership role of Bangladesh in the UN Peacekeeping and expressed willingness to work jointly in this area.


Dhaka/Hassan/AKA