Australia, Bangladesh agree to promote regular migration, cooperation
During the meeting, both sides highlighted the burgeoning presence of Bangladeshi IT experts in the Australian outsourcing sector
Bangladesh and Australia have underscored the need to contain irregular migration while stressing effective initiatives from both sides to facilitate and promote safe and regular migration.
The matter was discussed during a bilateral meeting between Tony Burke, the minister for home affairs, arts, cyber security, immigration and multicultural affairs and MP and leader of the House of Australia, and Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain at the foreign ministry in Dhaka today (31 October), according to a ministry press release.
Thanking Burke for extending his support and cooperation to the Bangladeshi diaspora in Australia, Touhid said Bangladesh is keen to work with Australia to promote bilateral trade and enhance student enrolment in Australian institutions.
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During the meeting, both sides highlighted the burgeoning presence of Bangladeshi IT experts in the Australian outsourcing sector.
Thanking the Australian minister for his visit to Bangladesh, the foreign affairs adviser talked about the background and spirit of the students-led mass upsurge that installed the current interim government and apprised him of the reform initiatives undertaken by it to materialise the aspirations of the people, especially the young generation.
At the meeting, Burke mentioned the Bangladeshi community in Australia, especially those in his electorate, had extended strong support for the student-led movement in Bangladesh in July and August.
He also expressed his government's confidence in Bangladesh's efforts to mend the past and build a brighter future through effective reforms, read the release.
"More than 50,000 people of Bangladeshi origin call Australia home, and we appreciate the contribution they make to our country," the minister said in a statement before visiting Bangladesh.
"Our people-to-people links with Bangladesh demonstrate the strength of the bilateral relationship and the potential that exists for deepening cooperation in the future," he added.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid acknowledged Australia's continued moral and material contributions to the Rohingya population sheltered in Bangladesh and called for enhanced pressure from the international community on Myanmar for a sustainable solution to the crisis.
The only solution to the problem is the return of Rohingyas to their homeland in a safe environment. If not addressed, it could trigger problems with implications for the wider region and by extension for the world, he stated.
Amongst others, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia M Allama Siddiki and the foreign ministry's East Asia and Pacific Wing Director General Mohammed Nore-Alam were present at the meeting.
