Why Bangladeshis moving to Europe risking lives, wonders finance minister

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has wondered why Bangladeshis are illegally moving to Europe risking their lives despite Bangladesh’s huge economic progress, reports UNB.

“I really don’t understand why people are moving to Europe risking their lives,” he said after a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase on Saturday.

The minister said this when reporters drew his attention to the recent rescue of 264 Bangladeshis from Tunisian coast of the Mediterranean.

Tunisian authorities on 24 June rescued 267 migrants, most of them Bangladeshis, who tried to sail from neighbouring Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean, reports AFP quoting the International Organization for Migration.

Mustafa Kamal said people from other countries are also moving to Europe illegally, not only from Bangladesh. “This is a regular phenomenon.”

Responding to another question, the finance minister said the government has not yet taken any decision on the demand of businesspeople to extend the repayment time of their loans which they placed against the backdrop of the new strict lockdown to check the spike in Covid-19 cases and casualties.

He noted that a high-level committee under prime minister Sheikh Hasina will take any decision on any special allocation for the poor people to save them from the economic fallouts of the new lockdown starting on Monday next.