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Bangladesh to revoke diplomatic passports of Sheikh Hasina, her ministers, MPs
The decision was made against the backdrop of reports of many former Cabinet ministers and MPs of Hasina’s Awami League party trying to flee Bangladesh
Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government has initiated the process of revoking all diplomatic passports, including those of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, her Cabinet ministers, and members of parliament (MPs), a senior official said on Thursday.
The move, for which a formal notification is yet to be issued, will also apply to the diplomatic passports of officials who were sent into mandatory retirement or whose contracts were terminated, the senior home ministry official, speaking on the condition that he would not be identified, told HT.
The interim government decided to revoke the diplomatic passports, commonly known as “red passports” because of their colour, because these persons no longer held official positions, the official said. “As they are no longer in their positions, the decision to revoke their passport was taken,” he said. However, he said the home ministry had only issued verbal instructions on this matter to the Department of Immigration and Passports, though no formal notification has been given as yet. “The written instruction may be sent to the department today [Thursday],” the official said.
The decision was made against the backdrop of reports of many former cabinet ministers and MPs of Hasina’s Awami League party trying to flee Bangladesh. Hasina stepped down in the face of student-led protests and fled to India on August 5. Some reports have suggested Hasina left without valid travel documents.
A few Cabinet ministers were detained as they attempted to flee the country, and the Border Guard Bangladesh has beefed up security along the frontier with India over the past two weeks.
The official said the home and foreign ministries give approvals for issuing diplomatic passports. The home ministry recently made the recommendation to revoke the diplomatic passports. The foreign ministry too is expected to ask the passport department to revoke these passports, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The official said the passport department has begun taking necessary steps for cancelling the diplomatic passports.
The people cited above said those eligible for diplomatic passports include the president, prime minister, members of the cabinet, MPs and their spouses, judges of higher courts, vice-chancellors of public universities, heads of the Public Service Commission, secretaries of ministries, and officials of Bangladeshi missions abroad.
The people said ministers and MPs get diplomatic passports valid for five years, or equal to the tenure of Parliament. They said the validity of these passports expires when the term of Parliament ends.
