DHAKA – The government of Bangladesh has also redesigned its passport to restrict travel to Israel through a marking on the passport, just like Pakistan.
Bangladeshi passport restricted travel to Israel for long time through a special statement; however, former premier Shaikh Haseena had removed the special inscription in 2021.
The inscription stated: THIS PASSPORT IS VALID FOR ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD EXCEPT ISRAEL.
The fresh wave of violence and brutality in Gaza has prompted the Bangladeshi authorities to bring back the inscription; the Bangladeshi citizens could not go to Israel even after the removal of inscription; however, the removal of the inscription was of a symbolic nature that the country was trying to bring its passport at par with the international standards.
Nilima Afroze, Deputy Secretary at the Bangladeshi Home Ministry’s Security Services Division, confirmed that the directive in this regard was issued on April 7 instructing the Department of Immigration and Passports to restore the phrase.
The policy reversal comes after mass protests in Dhaka on Saturday where thousands rallied to denounce Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.
It bears mentioning that the Pakistani passport specifically mentions that the travel document is valid for travel to any country except Israel. Bangladeshi passport had mentioned the same ever since 70s but in 2021, it was removed.
