Foreign and expatriate welfare ministries to work together: FM Dr Momen

DHAKA, Jan 29, 2019 (BSS) – Foreign Minister AK Abul Momen today said his ministry will work closely with the Expatriate Welfare and Overseas
Employment Ministry to check all sorts of harassment of Bangladeshi
expatriates.

“The Foreign Ministry and the Expatriate Welfare Ministry are like two
brothers. We would like to work in a coordinated way for ensuring wellbeing of Bangladeshi expatriate workers,” he told reporters after a meeting with State Minister for Expatriate welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmed at the Foreign Ministry here.

Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Md Shahhab Uddin also
attended the meeting while State Minister for Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali joined it over phone.

“As per the instruction of honorable Prime Minister, we would like to
expedite our development works, and coordination among the ministries is a
must in this regard,” the foreign minister said.

He said issues related to expatriate labourers, environment, flood
management, modernisation of airports and development of road transportation were discussed during the meeting.

Imran Ahmed said smooth coordination among the officials of Bangladesh
missions and the labour wings is an urgent to ensure the welfare of the
expatriate workers.

He hoped that drastic improvement would be visible in the activities of
the Expatriate Welfare Ministry within six months.

About the recent Kuwait incident where some agitated expatriate workers
attacked Bangladesh mission, Dr Momen said he has already directed all the
Bangladesh foreign missions to be vigilant to avoid such unwanted incidents abroad.

“We don’t want to see any scandal committed by Bangladeshi nationals in
foreign soils,” he said.

After assuming the office as the foreign minister, Dr Momen came up with
his idea of economic diplomacy and unveiled his plan to work for including
the Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) into the country’s mainstream
development.