Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSc has requested the Australian government to consider recruiting seasonal workers from Bangladesh for the agriculture sector.
The minister, who is now on a visit to Australia, has also requested the Australian authorities to consider relaxing Australian visa rules for Bangladeshi students as there is a growing interest among Bangladeshi pupils to pursue higher education in the Oceanian country.
Nurul made the requests during a meeting with Australia’s Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton at the latter’s office in Canberra on Thursday, Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra said in a message.
Referring to the growing need for workers in Australia, Nurul said Bangladesh might arrange skill development and training programmes for potential workers to help them acquire the skills necessary for being employed in Australia.
Peter Dutton told Nurul that Australia’s current immigration policy is essentially focused on skilled migration and almost two-thirds of migration takes place under this arrangement.
He said there could be further discussions on this between his country and Bangladesh. “We will also consider the proposal for targeted skill development programmes in Bangladesh that may lead to seasonal employment of workers in Australia.” They also discussed the possibility of hiring workers from Bangladesh and expanding co-operation between border protection forces of the two countries.
