23 Bangladeshis rescued at Romania border

23 Bangladeshi nationals were rescued from a truck at the Romanian border. They were rescued on Thursday (March 23) while illegally traveling to Italy.

According to a report by local media outlet Stiripsers, the truck was searched by the Arad border police in Romania when it arrived at the western Tarnu border crossing point. The truck driver said he was carrying mattresses on the Romania-Italy route.

Arad Border Police said that during the search, their colleagues confirmed that the rescued persons were Bangladeshi nationals, aged between 25 and 50 years. According to personal documents, they entered Romania legally.

Police said the driver has been arrested. He has been charged with immigrant smuggling and attempting to cross the state border by tricking foreign nationals hidden in trucks.

Meanwhile, the country has enacted a new law after failing to stop the influx of migrants from crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Italy.

According to the law, those involved in bringing illegal immigrants to Italy will face 10 to 30 years in prison and the same sentence for boatmen.

However, many citizens of the country call the law racist. Locals say that this government wants to close the border. They are taking away people's right to free movement. This situation must end. The flow of migrants coming by sea cannot be stopped. War and poverty embolden them to take this dangerous path. This government follows the words of the rich.

1 lakh 5 thousand 129 immigrants entered Italy in 2022. 14 thousand 982 of them are Bangladeshis. Meanwhile, 20 thousand 46 people have come so far this year, among them 1 thousand 629 Bangladeshis.

According to an estimate by the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, about 1.3 million Bangladeshis are living abroad. They are called Bangladeshi diaspora ie expatriate Bangladeshis. Their first generation of immigrants moved abroad to improve economic conditions or to escape poverty. The fourth largest immigrant group in the world is the citizens of Bangladesh. In other words, Bangladesh ranks fourth in terms of immigrants.

According to the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Europe data, 4,510 irregular Bangladeshis arrived in Europe via Italy, Malta, Spain or Greece by sea and land in 2020. Among the Bangladeshi nationals, the highest number of asylum seekers are registered in Italy. Their arrival rate by land and sea is about 92 percent. Moreover, around 8,844 Bangladeshi nationals were identified while crossing the Western Balkan countries in the same year.

Economic factors are still dominant in international migration. Most of those going to Europe are between 30 and 35 years old. Many continue on to Europe via Libya.

According to official data, there are about one and a half million Bangladeshi immigrants living in Italy. They are engaged in various sectors including agriculture, ship building and pavement trade. No other EU country has so many Bangladeshi immigrants. There is a public perception that Italy is very friendly to foreigners. Italy sometimes legalizes irregular migrant workers. That's why many people think that if they somehow get into the country, they will get legal status at some point.

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