After eight years of tough negotiations with the European Union's 27 member states, the European Parliament has approved a fundamental reform of asylum policy in the bloc. The new migration pact comprises several intertwined laws and is primarily intended to reduce the number of new arrivals, speed up asylum procedures and establish centers for doing this at the European Union's external borders. According to the EU's statistics agency Eurostat, the number of asylum applications has risen steadily in recent years, reaching 1.14 million in 2023. Around 4 million refugees from Ukraine have been accommodated in the bloc since 2022. How will asylum procedures be implemented at the external borders? In the future, asylum-seekers and refugees will be clearly identified within seven days of arrival in the EU by land, sea or air. Their details will be stored in the European asylum fingerprint database Eurodac, which will be expanded with further biometric data. Migrants from countries with recognition rates below 20%, such as India, Pakistan or Morocco, could be detained at the border for up to 12 weeks. Holding centers are to be set up in Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain, Croatia and Cyprus, and shall be where authorities will decide whether to send applicants back to their country of origin without further inquiry. This is expected to affect only a small number of arrivals. Across the EU, these centers should be able to accommodate up to 30,000 people at any time. Migrants from countries with higher recognition rates will be able to pass through the regular asylum procedure. Currently, this process can take years and is set to be shortened. Those people whose applications have been rejected will be deported directly at the EU's external borders. Burden on first points of entry to be decreased The so-called New Pact on Migration and Asylum also states that countries where migrants first arrive will be able to relocate a certain number of asylum-seekers to other EU member states. For this, a system of "mandatory solidarity" will be put in place. If states such as Hungary refuse to accept people, they will have to pay compensation or send equipment and personnel to countries of first reception. The amount of €20,000 ($21,400) per person not admitted has been put forward, but this is nonbinding and member states will negotiate details on a case-by-case basis. If one country thinks it is bearing too much of the burden, it will be able to request more solidarity. In crisis cases, all 27 member states will decide together. Standardize conditions across bloc Currently, many asylum-seekers in Greece and Italy, for example, try to continue their journey to reach countries like Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. This is the case whether someone is granted asylum or not. According to the current system, the countries where applicants first arrived are supposed to take back people who have not been granted asylum. This does not usually happen. The new pact will attempt to revise the system by providing more uniform services and conditions across the EU, so that certain member states are not considered more attractive than others.  Deportations to become easier The new pact will also allow for the speedier deportation of people to countries of origin or transit, if these have been declared safe. The EU is attempting to seal more agreements with third-party states, such as Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt, to persuade them to take in more people whose requests for asylum have been rejected. Tunisia, for instance, has agreed to take back its own nationals in return for economic aid, but its government does not want to take in people from sub-Saharan Africa who initially passed through Tunisia on their way to the EU. A 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey had led to fewer Syrians arriving in Greece over a period of four years. But now, the Turkish government does not want to take back Syrians whose applications have been rejected, so the deal no longer applies.  Database will provide EU-wide information According to the new pact, personnel on the external borders of the EU will in future record all people entering the bloc. Biometric information will be stored in a database that will be accessible across the EU. This will help determine whether somebody who is applying for asylum in one EU member state has already been rejected in another. It will also make it easier to deport people back to the first point of entry or to their country of origin. There have been several attempts to implement such a database since 2015. The current Eurodac database, which only stores fingerprints, has various technical deficiencies. New pact remains controversial Supporters of the new pact have argued that stricter asylum rules and procedures will speed up deportations and act as a deterrent. They've said that fewer people will risk making the journey to Europe because their chances of being able to stay will be restricted. Critics have said the pact undermines the fundamental right to asylum in the EU, and fear people in need of protection will be rejected. They've said people trying to get to the EU by crossing the Mediterranean, for example, will continue to die. What now? At the end of April, the Council of the European Union, which represents the 27 member states, will have to give its approval to the new migration pact, but this is considered just a formality. When the pact does come into force, with its various laws and regulations, it remains to be seen whether member states will fulfill their new obligations. Will Italy set up functioning centers on its borders? Will the bloc's northern and eastern member states show solidarity and take in more migrants, or at least provide funds for them? It's expected that it will take two years for the pact to be implemented, but it will be many more years before it's clear whether the number of asylum-seekers in Europe has fallen as a result or not.

At least two migrants including a baby died when their bank sank Saturday soon after leaving the coast of Tunisia, the coastguard said. The vessel, carrying 20 Tunisians, went down at 2:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) when it was just 120 meters (395 feet) from the shoreline in the southeastern province of Gabes. "Two bodies have been recovered, one of a 20-year-old man and the other of an infant," the coast guard said in a statement. Thirteen others were rescued, including the baby's parents. Five passengers were missing and search operations were ongoing, the statement added. A similar tragedy occurred off the Tunisian coast on Monday, when a boat carrying migrants sank near the eastern city of Sfax, leaving 11 people dead. Sfax serves as a launching port for migrants from African countries to begin their risky sea journeys to Europe, via the Italian island ofLampedusa. More than 1,800 people have died this year in shipwrecks on the central Mediterranean migration route, the world's deadliest — more than twice as many as last year, according to the International Organization for Migration. Migrant boat sinks in English Channel Once the migrants reach southern Europe, they sometimes head for wealthier countries such as Germany and the UK. The migrants may also take a dangerous journey from France to Britain. French maritime officials reported Saturday that a boat, overloaded with migrants and refugees, capsized in the English Channel, killing six people. UK media reported that the victims were all Afghan nationals, who had been in critical condition when found and were later pronounced dead. About 65 people were estimated to have boarded the boat for the UK and two people may still be lost at sea, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said. The English Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes but at its narrowest point, separates France and Britain by just 20 miles (33 kilometers). This year, the number of migrants plying the Channel has fallen about 15% to 15,826 as of Thursday, partly as a result of a joint UK-French monitoring operation along the coast. But since 2018, more than 100,000 migrants have crossed the sea in small boats. Britain passed a new law earlier this year to try to stem the arrival of small boat migrants, which would deport those who arrive illegally back to their home country or a safe third country. But plans to fly some people to Rwanda have been shot down by an appeals court and are now being appealed by the Supreme Court. The passage of people trying to get into and around Europe is often facilitated by smugglers, who may take advantage of their desperation for a fee. The migrants are frequently put on overloaded, unseaworthy boats, which are prone to sinking, particularly in stormy conditions.    Hundreds of migrants saved by French charity French NGO SOS Mediterranee said Friday that its Ocean Viking vessel saved over 600 migrants trapped at sea over the previous two days. The rescue group said 623 people had been brought in on "unseaworthy small boats." Among those rescued were nationals of countries such as Sudan, Guinea and Bangladesh. Sudan in particular is witnessing armed conflict which has driven thousands of refugees out of the country.  The majority of the migrants were picked up by the ship on the sea route between Lampedusa and Sfax.

The contribution of remittance warriors is important in the country’s economy. But harassment of broker syndicate and due to lack of awareness among the immigration aspirants, not much benefit is coming out of this sector. Bangladesh’s reputation is being tarnished abroad. For these reasons, the government is going to undertake a project to raise awareness in the immigration sector. Manpower Employment and Training Bureau (BMET) sources said, work in progress to prepare the project proposal (DPP). Through this, an awareness programme will be launched in the country. It is expected that this will reduce the harassment of broker syndicate and create awareness among the people in the immigration sector. Thus, proper utilization of various government provided facilities for expatriates will be ensured. The project aims to prevent ill activities of the broker syndicate, to create awareness about different rules and regulations of the government before going to abroad and for creating a tendency to follow those. It also aims to create awareness about various facilities that can be received in accordance with Bangladesh's agreement with the concerned countries while abroad and to inform expatriate remittance fighters and their family members about various government facilities. Under the project, seminars will be organized in all the districts of the country including divisional cities. Various types of awareness oriented advertisements and dramas will be broadcasted in media. Awareness advertisements and programs will be broadcast on radio and television. The main task of this project will be to uphold the various issues of migration before the people through these programs and advertisements. BMET sources said, the company undertook a five-year program called 'Awareness Development Program for Safe Migration Assurance' in 2017. The cost of the project was estimated at Tk 213 crore with tenure from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. In view of the undergoing programme, new awareness projects are also being planned. Meanwhile, sources in the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said that every year separately budget has been allocated to ensure safe immigration. It said, in 2018-19 fiscal year Tk 71,000 and Tk 10,000 allocated respectively for district and Upazila level for awareness seminars, publicity campaigns, and press briefings. In the current fiscal year, Tk 97,000 and Tk 55,800 has been allocated in divisional and upazila level respectively. Regarding the new project, BMET said, the government is committed to provide all the benefits to expatriates. Because remittance sent by the expatriate Bangladeshis and workers is playing an important role in the socio-economic development of the country. The remittances sent by the expatriates run the wheel of the country's economy. Therefore, the government has also provided expatriates with various facilities. However, due to lack of publicity, many expatriates do not know about the benefits. Therefore, the expatriates are being deprived of various benefits even if the benefits are available. That’s why the ministry is also emphasizing this public awareness programme. BMET Director-General Shamsul Alam said to RtvOnline.com, unawareness is the major obstacle in our immigration sector. Many are deceived due to lack of awareness, also they are deprived of the various privileges provided by the government while staying abroad. Besides, they cannot send message to the representatives of the Bangladesh government on various issues in the country where they work. Again, if a worker goes to a country or if a worker dies, they are deprived of all the benefits that the government has for the workers or their families. The Director-General said, the things I have said are not only the workers being deprived, but indirectly and in some cases, the country is also directly being affected. In view of these issues, we are going to undertake a project to create public awareness. He said, in the last review meeting of project implementation and progress affairs we have informed the expatriate's welfare and overseas employment ministry about the project. In this regard, the ministry has given a positive response, added Shamsul Alam. SJ

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned to make the monitoring system stronger further along with conducting massive awareness campaign as the migration aspirants are not deceived anymore. “We will have to make the monitoring system stronger further alongside creating massive awareness program to stop cheating migration aspirants while going abroad,” she said while addressing the maiden meeting of the National Steering Committee on migration held at the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in the capital on Sunday. Reports BSS. The Prime Minister said migrants are hugely contributing to making the country’s economy stronger by sending remittances. She said, “There is an urgent need to cast a special eye as they (migrant workers) are not lost during any unusual time and it is our duty to look after their security and welfare because they are the citizens of our country.” Around one crore Bangladeshi expatriates are now working in nearly 100 countries as they are sending remittance which is largely contributing to reducing the poverty and increasing reserve of foreign currency, she said. She asked the authorities concerned to prepare a database of the migrant workers detailing their whereabouts abroad and work status. Stressing the need for imparting the foreign job seekers with appropriate training on the particular jobs and languages, the Prime Minister said, “We can talk to the particular countries and arrange training jointly with the concerned countries as we did in the past.” Sheikh Hasina, also President of National Steering Committee on migration said “There is a group of brokers in the country who are sending people abroad after taking huge money from migration aspirants by showing them bigger dreams”. Brokers later even take more money from the migrants’ relatives by pressuring them, she said, adding “Migration aspirants usually collect money after selling their belongings and taking loans. So we have to keep an eye as they are not cheated.” People are falling into the trap of brokers despite the government has established 5275 digital centers across the country from where the migration aspirants can registrar their names for going abroad, she continued. “We are trying to convince people to register their names through digital centers for going abroad, not approaching to the brokers,” she added, calling upon the media to play effective role in this regard. “Our women are going to many countries for job purpose and they are being tortured abroad. So we are now giving them smart cards and mobile phones aimed at stopping the repression on them,” the Prime Minister said. The government has established Probashi Kallayan Bank (Expatriate Welfare Bank) as the people can get loan from the bank to go abroad, she said. “We have a huge number of youth working forces in Bangladesh which has an immense potential. We will have to give them training on various capacities to make them skilled manpower. Then we can send skilled people abroad,” she said. In this context, the premier also said in the future, manpower might not be sent abroad because skilled manpower would be needed for the country as “we are setting up 100 special economic zones and developing information communication technology (ICT) sector”. Among others, National Steering Committee on migration members Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal, Local Government and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Planning Minister MA Mannan, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad and State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali were present on the occasion. PMO Secretary Sajjadul Hasan moderated the function while Chief Coordinator of the PMO SDG Affairs Abul Kalam Azad and PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were also present. AH