US identifies 500 Bangladeshis for repatriation

The Trump administration has informed Bangladesh about its decision to repatriate irregular Bangladeshis living in the US as part of its tightened immigration policy.

The Trump administration has informed Bangladesh about its decision to repatriate irregular Bangladeshis living in the US as part of its tightened immigration policy.

"The US embassy in Dhaka has notified the matter to Bangladesh authorities recently," a foreign ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday.

In response, the home ministry held an inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday to discuss the repatriation process. The meeting was chaired by Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury.

The ministry officials emphasised that US authorities should follow proper procedures in the repatriation process and avoid using handcuffs on deportees.

"In the case of the US, irregular Bangladeshis are not a major issue. There are not many Bangladeshis staying without documents there," the foreign ministry official said.

He added that this is not a new policy targeting Bangladesh specifically, as the US previously repatriated undocumented Bangladeshis.

The Trump administration, following its election campaign promise, issued an executive order on January 20 for the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

While most irregular migrants in the US come from Mexico and South American countries, there are also significant number of migrants from South Asian countries mainly India, but also Pakistan and Bangladesh.

According to a rough estimate, there are about one million Bangladeshi origin immigrants in the US, and a tiny portion of them could be irregular.

"We have a significant number of irregular migrants in Europe, especially the UK, not in the US. And them being sent back is not anything new. So, it is not anything extraordinary. Therefore, let us not create an unnecessary panic," another foreign ministry official told this newspaper.