Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday said there is no good news yet from Italy as they, fearing the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, are keeping the entry of Bangladeshis restricted there until December 31.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated with different levels of the Italian government in this regard but the European country is yet to reconsider the decision imposed on a number of countries, including Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi expatriates had frequently violated the mandatory quarantine rules introduced by the Italian government, said the foreign minister.
A good number of Bangladeshis were found positive when they were allowed to return to Italy a few months ago.
When they were put on quarantine by the Italian authorities, many of them skipped the quarantine.
When the Italian government asked for mandatory Covid-19 tests for all Bangladeshi expatriates in a city near Rome, many Bangladeshis left the city to avoid the procedure.
The local media highlighted the rules violations and the Italian authorities were compelled to impose the restrictions, Dr Momen added.
Italy, however, agreed to a Bangladesh proposal for recruiting labourers for the agriculture sector, said the Foreign Minister.
Dr Momen said only 150,000 expatriate Bangladeshis returned home amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the government took various initiatives to support expatriate workers, including those who became jobless due to the pandemic.
"We told them [workers receiving country] that expatriate Bangladeshis are directly supporting your development," Dr Momen told reporters at his office in Dhaka.
He said Bangladesh has urged the countries, where Bangladeshis migrant workers work, to pay due payments and six months’ salaries if any worker is terminated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Momen said that only four countries paid salaries of their workers for four months’.
