One lakh foreigners overstay visas

At least 97,695 nationals of India, China, the Philippines and different African countries continue to stay and work in Bangladesh with expired visas, posing threats to the economy as well as the security and social fabric of Bangladesh, an intelligence agency notified the home ministry in September.

The intelligence report estimated that the government was losing more than 4.5 thousand crore taka of revenue in the form of income tax from foreign nationals visiting or staying in the country with business, work, tourist and on-arrival visas.

It also said that the ‘uncontrolled’ transportation of goods by foreigners across the border created an ‘undeclared’ ‘duty-free’ market, which was illegal and affecting the country’s economy.

The report stated that the ‘illegal stay’ and employment of these Chinese, Indian and other foreign nationals particularly in the manufacturing sector in violation of visa rules have also shrunk the job opportunity for locals, heightening the country’s unemployment problem.

Home minister Asaduzzaman said that foreign citizens, mainly from China, India and African countries, were overstaying in Bangladesh.

The government, he said, wants to extend visas of these foreigners who are actually contributing to the country’s development, especially in the IT and apparel sectors. ‘But many from China and India do not apply in time,’ he added.

The home minister added that citizens from African countries were largely involved in criminal activities, including frauds, here and their visas were not extended. Those getting involved in criminal acts are being sent back, he further said.

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen could not be reached for his comment on the visa issue.

According to the intelligence agency’s special report on foreign nationals, 2,12,067 foreigners from across the world were staying in Bangladesh on September 11.

The agency analysed the visa statistics about 1,21,227 foreign nationals from seven countries, finding that 97,695 of them were overstaying in the country on that day while 23, 532 were staying with valid visas.

The statistics showed that the foreign nationals staying with expired visas included 68,305 Indians, 16,231 Chinese, 9,915 Filipinos, 2,068 Nigerians, 1,015 Somalians, 79 Kenyans and 82 Cameroonians.

The report stated that Indian nationals were ‘abusing’ business and tourist visas in Bangladesh.

According to the report, 16,616 foreign nationals from 106 countries were  staying in Bangladesh in September with business visas and 5,349 of them were Indians and 6,553 Chinese.

Some 7,000 Indians enter Bangladesh daily through land ports but the data are not integrated into the immigration database, the report pointed out.

Chinese nationals also ‘abuse’ the visa regime while the ministries concerned have no record of who was working for which project under what type of visa and how much they were earning in Bangladesh.

Many Chinese nationals, the report mentioned, are getting involved in employment other than in designated government projects after securing A3 visa meant for specific profession or job.

At least 450 Chinese were identified, who were staying with A3 visas but were not involved in any stipulated project, it added.

The report stated that 90 per cent of the Nigerians staying in Bangladesh had arrived with business and tourist visas and 98 per cent of them were currently straying ‘illegally’.

According to the report, currently 12,190 foreign students are studying in Bangladesh but many of them, especially Nigerians and Somalians, on the expiry of their visas were getting involved in the apparel business jobs and were married to Bangladesh women.

‘They are affecting our social fabric and getting people involved in criminal activities and frauds. We are concerned about them,’ said a senior official of the intelligence agency.

The intelligence report suggested further scrutiny in issuing second-time visas for nationals of India, China, the Philippines and African countries.

It also suggested mandatory financial transactions through the banking channel for those staying in Bangladesh with various types of visa.

Asked about overstaying foreign nationals, inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun said in the past week that they communicated with the respective countries in this regard and, if needed, the foreigners concerned would be deported.

In November 2019, the cabinet committee on law and order discussed setting up a safe home for undocumented foreigners living in Bangladesh and was looking for a block allocation for the deportation of an estimated 11,000 people to their respective countries.

The Special Branch of police in the meeting proposed setting up of a safe home for the foreigners who were not willing to return immediately and for whom embassies of their respective countries were not responding to any communications from Bangladesh over their deportation.

The committee said that as the countries did not respond to any diplomatic correspondence, Bangladesh would arrange a fund to deport the foreigners to their respective countries.

Law enforcement agencies said that they found both documented and undocumented foreigners involved in crimes, including smuggling, ATM card forgery, trading fake currencies, committing murders, cheating through social media and mobile phones, arms trading and drug peddling.

New Age