Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to make a list of the foreign nationals illegally staying in the country and take legal action against them.
The premier gave the directive to the ministries and divisions concerned at a cabinet meeting yesterday, a cabinet member told the Dhaka Tribune, requesting anonymity.
The issue of the illegal foreign nationals was brought up at the meeting when Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed asked about the activities of Accord and Alliance, two international organisations which are now looking into the labour standard in the country’s ready-made garment sector.
The prime minister said foreigners are working in different sectors, especially RMG, while staying illegally in the country. They should be identified immediately and their identification should be verified by the national security and intelligence agencies, the cabinet member said.
The duration of visa and work permit of every foreign national should also be verified by the authorities concerned, the prime minister said.
The Detective Branch of police conducted a special drive against foreign nationals illegally living in the capital on November 14 and arrested 31 expatriates from 10 African countries.
Conducted in the capital’s Uttara, Rampura and Gulshan areas, the drive took place following the murder of teenager Zubair Ahmed, an Uttara resident who was raped and killed on October 4 by his swimming instructor Abuubaida Kadir, an Algerian national living in Bangladesh illegally for 14 years.
The DB took a short break afterwards, but they have been preparing for the next drive, to be carried out in the capital’s Bashundhara residential area, Banani and Nikunja areas, Abdul Ahad, additional deputy commissioner at the DB, told the Dhaka Tribune on November 15.
Sheikh Nazmul Alam, deputy commissioner at the DB, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were keeping tabs on the foreigners who are living in Bangladesh as players of different national leagues, teachers of different English medium educational institutions, RMG buyers, travellers and students.
Asked about any suspect on their next drive, he said they had yet to make any such list.
However, requesting anonymity, a DB police official, who was involved in the special drive, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had a suspect list of around 500 foreigners to check their status and documents.
PM instructs Tofail ‘not to bother’
The prime minister told the commerce minister at the meeting not to bother about what Accord and Alliance were doing in the country.
Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is a platform of 27 North American retailers, while Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a platform of over 150 European buyers.
Talking about their activities, the commerce minister said they were frequently giving new conditions on workers’ safety and other issues in the RMG factories, putting pressure on the RMG factory authorities as well as the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
In response to his concern, the prime minister told him not to care about their activities.
Regarding the cancellation of GSP facilities for Bangladesh to the US market, the premier said the US government and people would face problems if they did not allow Bangladeshi RMG products access to their market.
