EU Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner has visited Bangladesh and Pakistan for talks on migration, border management, labour mobility and tackling migrant smuggling.
Bangladesh and Pakistan are EU partners in the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling and the “Eastern Corridor” initiative — a route-based approach described by the European Commission in a release on Tuesday as designed to reduce illegal migration while supporting legal labour mobility pathways.
In Bangladesh, Brunner met the Minister of Home Affairs, Salahuddin Ahmed, the Minister of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Ariful Haque Choudhury, and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shama Obaed Islam.
He also visited the July Memorial Museum, which the Commission described as a symbol of Bangladesh’s new generation, democracy, human rights and justice.
€5m border management project launched in Pakistan
In Pakistan, Brunner held meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, and Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the Commission said.
He also met Chief of Defence Forces Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah and Usman Anwar, Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency.
Brunner delivered a keynote speech at the National Risk Analysis Summit organised by the Federal Investigation Agency.
A €5 million project was formally launched during the visit to support “integrated border management” in Pakistan, the Commission said, using the term for coordinated border controls involving different agencies.
The project is funded by NDICI-Global Europe, the EU’s external funding instrument, and is intended to strengthen Pakistan’s border management capacity and address illegal migration and cross-border crime.
Annual EU-Bangladesh and EU-Pakistan Migration and Mobility Dialogues have been held since 2023 to support regular contacts on these issues.
