Italian PM didn't call Bangladeshis 'virus bombs': Foreign Ministry
Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes with dismissed a information published by some Bangladeshi mass media outlets that quoted Italy's Primary Minister Giuseppe Conte calling Bangladeshis "virus bombs".
"The newspapers misquoted Giuseppe Conte as saying that Bangladeshis will be 'virus bombs'.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to emphasise that the Primary Minister of Italy hardly ever said such a thing about Bangladeshis," a news release from the ministry said on Saturday.
While speaking with a Spanish TV channel during his recent visit to Madrid, Italy's Prime Minister Conte mentioned that in the recent flights from Bangladesh, there were up to 20 % passengers in one air travel who tested Covid-19 positive after arriving at Rome airport.
In order to ensure that Italy does not go through the difficult circumstances of Covid-19 again, Conte said that Italy was forced to stop flights from Bangladesh, the news release further says.
The news release also mentions that Bangladesh is not the only country on that list. Italy features stopped flights from 12 other countries of the universe, and the decision will be examined on July 14.
More than 1,50,000 Bangladeshis are in Italy, and their contributions to the economies of both Bangladesh and Italy are gratefully acknowledged.
The news release further mentions that, when various countries of the world are strongly following anti-immigrant practices, including sending again retrenched migrant workers to their home countries, the Italian government, within their financial revival plan, has decided to regularise various immigrants with irregular status.
"The Italian government has shown extraordinary flexibility and generosity to accept Bangladeshis with Italian residence permits sometimes at that time when Bangladesh hasn't yet completely recovered from the Covid-19 virus," it reads.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines operated 6 unique charter flights to Rome within the last a single month where around 1,600 Bangladeshis with Italian home permits (or sometimes, with Italian passports) travelled.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged, with deep appreciation, the support provided by the Embassy of Italy in Dhaka in this regard.
The Italian diplomats based in Dhaka went of the way to help the Bangladeshis with Italian residence permits to create their journey to and arrival in Rome hassle-free, the news release says.
After arrival in Rome airport, when the incoming passengers were tested for Covid-19, around 70-75 Bangladeshis tested positive.
In addition to that, the Italian Health Ministry, while testing the users of the Bangladeshi community around Rome, found another 20-25 people with coronavirus.
According to the news release, the Italian federal government has taken all required steps to supply support to these around 100 Bangladeshis.
Just about all of them have already been kept in a good hotel for the period of isolation in the expense of the Italian federal government, and those who want hospitalisation have duly been admitted to hospitals, again arranged by the Italian authorities.
"Regrettably, some associates of the Bangladesh network found in Italy who tested great for Covid-19 are not respectful of your choice of the Italian federal government and so are ignoring the quarantine and isolation rules and guidance of the Italian federal government," it further says.
"They will be defying the restrictions of the Italian federal government, thus putting the complete community at risk of infection. Several Bangladeshis who came back to Bangladesh from Italy previous March as well behaved in an identical irresponsible approach and refused to follow our quarantine methods under many pretexts, and now in addition they violated the Italian quarantine techniques creating general public ill-feeling," the press release adds.
Mentioning that the attitude of defiance simply by some customers of the Bangladeshi network in Italy features been portrayed in reports by Italian papers, the Foreign Ministry said that these news items may create mistrust or perhaps discontent among the Italian populace against Bangladeshis in Italy.
"One newspaper possibly published the news beneath the headline of Bangladeshi virus bombs," the news release says.
However, the truth is that the prime minister of Italy never mentioned the word "virus bombs" indicating any community during his interview with the Spanish TV Channel.
"The longstanding relationship between Bangladesh and Italy possesses been based on mutual trust and respect. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Italy in February this season at the invitation of the primary minister of Italy, and both heads of government had an extremely productive and fruitful recognized interacting with," the Foreign Ministry news release further says.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the print and electronic mass media in Bangladesh never to publish any news that may impact the bilateral relations between your two countries without homework.
The ministry urged the media to check authenticity while running any news that may have a poor impact on bilateral relations, including on the Bangladeshi expatriate community.
The ministry also requested the print and electronic media to create awareness among Bangladeshi diaspora around the world, including passengers departing from Bangladesh, because of their sympathetic understanding of the neighborhood situations, and for adherence to the rules and regulations of the local government.
