Secretary of State (State Minister) for Foreign Affairs & Cooperation of Portugal Dr. Francisco Andre has assured of his personal intervention to create positive conditions for Bangladeshi immigrants to work and stay in Portugal. He commended the Bangladeshi expatriate community residing in Portugal as “respected, well integrated community contributing significantly to the Portuguese society.” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam had a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State over a luncheon hosted by the Portuguese side in Lisbon on Monday and discussed the issues of mutual interest. Also read:Bangladesh number 1 recipient of COVID-19 vaccines under COVAX: UNICEF State Minister Alam apprised the Secretary of State about the sustained social and economic development of Bangladesh under the watch of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. He raised the issue of the need of easing the existing visa complexities in the absence of a Portuguese resident Diplomatic Mission in Dhaka and offered every assistance for ensuring periodic consular services provided to Dhaka. Bangladesh State Minister thanked his counterpart for the continued patronage extended to the Bangladeshi expatriates and praised Portugal for their immigrant friendly approaches. He proposed the State Secretary to work together to chart an orderly and transparent pathway for Bangladeshi citizens to come and work in Portugal under an agreed framework. The Portuguese State Secretary extended his invitation for Bangladesh to participate in the” Second UN Ocean Conference” to be held from June 27 to July 1. Bangladesh State Minister informed of a possible attendance of a high-level delegation led by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. The two leaders exchanged views on recent regional and global developments. They noted their convergences in their respective approaches to the current world order and reaffirmed their commitments to a stronger UN system and a rule-based world. Bangladesh State Minister informed his counterpart that Bangladesh has always been the supporter of peace, territorial integrity, sovereignty and human rights protection, which reflects into our share of contribution in UN Peacekeeping Missions.

The Malaysian Immigration Department arrested 309 illegal immigrants, including 102 Bangladeshis, during an integrated operation at a settlement near a construction site in Dengkil early Monday. The detainees also included 193 Indonesians, eight Myanmar nationals, four Vietnamese, and two Indians. Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud, director-general of the Immigration Department, said his department had received information from members of the public who claimed that there were individuals at the settlement who were believed to have violated the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Movement Control Order (MCO). He said, as a result, the department had raided the area and found that they did not comply with the MCO SOPs. "I arrived with the operations team and found that their settlement was so dense, dirty and did not have a proper drainage system, apart from having a place to gather and eat in large numbers," Khairul said. "They also admitted that they lived in a group in one room, which is about four to seven people." Read: Malaysia detains 500 'illegal' migrants including Bangladeshis This showed that they were free to do anything at the construction site without any compliance with the MCO SOPs, Khairul also said. "This was the main purpose of the Home Ministry which directed the Immigration Department to help reduce positive cases of the Covid-19 outbreak at the workplace comprising immigrants." "All these illegal immigrants will undergo the Covid-19 screening test today. After the test, they will be placed at the Semenyih Immigration Depot to be detained and investigated following Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 15 (1) (c) of the same law, before deportation," Khairul said. During the operation, the Immigration Department also inspected 10 Rohingya refugees who are the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) cardholders. "Out of 10 the UNHCR cardholders, only two of them were arrested for possessing fake UNHCR cards while the others were released," Khairul said. On June 6, the Immigration Department detained 156 immigrants, including 62 Bangladeshis, during an integrated operation at an illegal settlement in Cyberjaya city. The detainees also included Indonesian, Myanmarese, Nepali, Pakistani and Indian nationals. Khairul said: "Two hundred and two immigrants from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and India, including 12 women and two children were checked." "However, 156 of them were detained for not having valid travel and identification documents before being taken to the Immigration Department's screening centre in Putrajaya for further action," he added. Read: 62 Bangladeshis detained in Malaysia