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Commentary

Is someone selling Bangladeshi passports to Rohingyas?

by S. M. Ali
An authoritative Hongkong based regional journal has raised the possibility that out of some 250,000 Rohingya refugee* working in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, some may be using "spurious" Bangladeshi passports
In a despatch from the United Arab Emirates (L'AE). the Far Fattern Economic Review says, ’Burmese Muslims, deprived of thetr citizenship by successive gov ernments tn Rangoon, had to enter the UAE on spurious Bangladeshi or Pakistani pass
ports '
The report carried by the Review's latest issue is written by Bertil Lintner. an expert on the subject, who has travelled extensively on border areas of Myanmar to study the condi Uons of ethnic minorities of the troubled country
The Review despatch provides little details about the use of the so-called fake Bangladesh passports by Rohineraa. Nor is there any Indication as to how many such travel documents might have been used. One is. therefore, left to guess that the number may well range from 100 to 1,000
However. Lintner describes what he calls "a typical example" about one Mohammad Sayed, a 56-year old school teacher, who fled to Bangladesh in 1985 where he stayed for four years before leaving for the Oulf. Now back to his old teaching profession. Sayed probably used a Bangladeshi passport for his travel to Sharjah where he was interviewed by the Review correspondent '
Regardless of the number of such passports Issued to the refugees from Myanmar, the Review report would suggest that there is a racket working here arranging "spurious" travel documents for people who have the means and the will to make a journey for the labour-scarce Gulf region.
According to one Informed source here, such travel documents can be either complete forgeries or issued by the Department of Immigration on the basis of false papers.
Unless it is conversant with the situation, the Bangladesh government should indeed treat the Review report with concern. After all, a holder of a Bangladeshi passport in a foreign country is a responsibility of the country's diplomatic mission. When he (or she) runs foul of the local law. it is the mission that is obliged to sort out the problem.
When some fake Bangladeshi passports are known to be in circulation. Immigration authorities in various countries become suspicious even of genuine ones, causing undue inconvenience to Bangladeshis travelling abroad.
The Review report provides a break-down of Rohingyas employed by Saudi Arabia and other countries In the Gulf. There are now as many as 200.000 In Saudi Arabia alone, some 20,000 in the UAE, 1,500-2,000 in Qatar and 3,000 to 5,000 in Jordan. The report puts the figure of Rohingyas now living In Pakistan at 200,000.