“International Migrants Day” celebrated in Italy: Mehnas Tabbasum Shelley receives Remittance Award

Minhaj Hossain Special Representative:

On the occasion of “International Migrants Day 2022”, Bangladesh Embassy, Rome, Italy awarded “Remittance Award” to 05 expatriate Bangladeshis including two women. The award was presented at a ceremony organized at the embassy on Monday (December 19) at 12 noon. The award was given to them as the highest remittance senders from Italy to Bangladesh between July 2021 and June 2022. Ambassador of Bangladesh in Italy Md. Shamim Ahsan presented the award.

Among the events organized by the embassy were speeches by the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, discussion meeting and distribution of awards. At the beginning of the discussion meeting, the First Secretary (Labour) of the Embassy, Mr. Asif Anam Siddiqui, presented a report on the steps taken by the Government of Bangladesh to protect the rights of expatriates, their welfare and encourage expatriates to send remittances through legitimate channels. Remittance award recipients also addressed the event and expressed their sincere thanks to the Embassy for giving this recognition. Participants from distant cities also spoke from the Zoom platform.

In his speech, Ambassador Md. Shamim Ahsan congratulated all the awardees and also thanked all the Bangladeshi diaspora for making important contribution to the country's economy by sending remittances. Immediately after the achievement of independence, the ambassador particularly remembered Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for opening up the labor market of Bangladesh abroad in the continuation of establishing diplomatic relations with various countries of the world, and referred to the current government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as an "expatriate-friendly government" as the theme of this year. He pointed out the various steps taken by the government in front of "Thakob bhalo, rakhob bhalo desh, Legitpathe Pravasi Ay-Garab Bangladesh".

Among the invited guests were Mr. Laurence Hart, Director, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Coordination Office for the Mediterranean and Mr. Giovanni Imbergamo, Director, Janata Exchange S, R, L, Italy. While highlighting the significance of the day in the global context, they appreciated the activities undertaken by the Bangladesh government in the welfare of the migrants and the valuable contribution of the migrants.

The recipients of the “Remittance Award” for the year 2022 are: Individual Category (Male) Mohammad Jahangir Farazi, Md Mahfuzul Haque, Uddin Zia, and Individual Category (Female) Ankhi Agnes Gomez, Mehnas Tabbasum Shelley.

Bangladesh Embassy, Rome launched “Remittance Award” in 2019 to encourage legitimate remittance senders. Embassy officials, employees, Bangladeshi journalists living in Italy, awardees were present in the ceremony.