Weak Passport Belies Success III

Green passport earns a bad name As Bangladeshis get the blame In Canada for soaring house price. Henley index lays bare the development lies.

Henley strong passport index has downgraded Bangladesh by one notch from its January ranking. In the latest passport index,Bangldesh is ranked 104th,behind Sri Lanka¹. Soon after the latest index, South Africa has made changes in visa regulations applicable for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis after some nationals of the two countries without visa had been detained by South African authority for entering Lesotho,Swaziland using South African airports. From August 1,Bangladeshis and Pakistanis require transit Visas to enter these countries, which give Bangladeshis Visa free entry². In April, Bangladeshi passport occupied 103 rd position among 116 countries for 2021 in Henley Strong Passport Index [This piece is just an extension to the piece I wrote April 09 this year]. In 2020, it held the same position. Despite the improvement from 108 to 103 in recent years, Bangladeshi passport remains one of the weakest passport (9th) in the world³. Meanwhile, corona, internal turbulence and war made many counties' score bad. So the improvement is not an improvement at all. In the meantime, US imposed sanctions on RAB and several security establishment officials for deterioration in law and order situation.[In April] Canada postponed its second home program, nationality through purchase of house, for two years as property prices soar up unprecedentedly because of foreign nationals' house buying spree in that country⁴.

Back in October last year I penned “Weak Passport Belies Success “ to highlight Henley’s then ranking of Bangladesh⁵. Sharing it again:

The weakening of our passport has been going on for the last seven years. In 2013,our passport was ranked at 85 in Henley Passport Index(HPI). In 2017,the green passport was slides down by 10 places. In 2019,its rank worsened further to 99.In 2020, it was ranked 101st. Perhaps not all the countries are buying our success stories⁸.

Recently, European Union published a list of asylum seekers in EU where they entered illegally by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Bangladesh ranked second in the list.

This week Lafarge Holcim cement announced that it would sell its operations in Bangladesh.⁶

E-commerce debacle left a serious blot on reputation of the government. One after another e-commerce platform that follows multilevel marketing model failed to meet customers’ need and many simply swindled money. What could have been the success story of govt's digital economy turned out to be an embarrassing point for the government.

It has been reported that government might have avoided this incident had it been stricter to malpractices.

Meanwhile, remittances shows a downward spiral following a remarkable growth last year.

In September 2021-22,Bangladesh received remittances worth $1726.29 million whereas the sum was $2171.03 million in May this year⁷However, rising oil price could break the downward spiral as construction boom may resume in the Middle Eastern countries, riding on the high oil price.

Back in April this year,I wrote a piece titled “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity” in the wake of unrevised HPI. I would like to share some part of it again:

“Education is the area where we fall behind our neighbors. In Global Knowledge Index, Bangladesh held the lowest rank in South Asia. Its position was 112th among 138 countries.Even Pakistan and Nepal were placed ahead of us (Source: Daily Star, December 12 , 2020).

In Innovation Index, Bangladesh was far behind than its South Asian neighbors. Among the 131 economies, Bangladesh occupied 116th position. It perched on that position for three consecutive years (Source: The Financial Express, September 14, 2020).

In recent years, school drop out rate, number of child marriage have also increased. I cannot figure out how we can continue our achievements in economic and development sectors with such a sorry state in education and innovation.

What complicated the matter is the presence of three different streams of education. A greater section of the population are not at the same wavelength while reading a particular event or situation and are not behaving in the right way at a crucial occasion or circumstances.

Our 14 years of schooling is not as good as others. It is casting a shadow over our overseas development markets. In middle eastern countries where our nationals mostly took up the jobs of housemaid, drivers, agricultural workers etc , Bangladeshis find themselves in awkward situation for failing to communicate in a proper manner. It is affecting their livelihoods there. Many even fall victims to deception and cheating. In Kuwait a Bangladeshi MP in connivance with Kuwaiti officials ran a human trafficking network. Thousands of Bangladeshis were lured into their traps, losing millions of Taka and risking their lives. The issue remains a sore point in the relationship between two countries and engenders overseas employment of Bangladesh in Kuwait.

Reuters last year carried a report divulging dilapidated conditions of stranded Bangladeshis , victims of human trafficking, in Bosnian jungles.

Like those cheated Bangladeshis abroad, state of our health sector does not vouch safe for our economic success story. COVID-19 laid bare the anarchy going on in this sector. Fake screening program ran by some politically-blessed quarter alarmed us about quality of our health professionals. Poorly equipped hospitals and dearth of health professionals brought us foreign grant and support in thick and fast. To our dismay, we watched that oxygen system and 300 ventilators bought with foreign credit were locked in warehouses of Dhaka International Airport for ten months. They are meant to equip the public hospitals. Meanwhile, deteriorating condition at home led to ban flights towards countries from where most of our remittances come.

With great enthusiasm and effort, Bangladesh implements infrastructure and development projects, very few turn out to be beneficial in the end. However, same vigor and enthusiasm are not displayed while creating social institutions that aim to develop human resources at the grassroot level. Tribal nature of our politics , tendency to set a yeoman at every organization are widely seen as encumbrance to developing such institution. For the last three decades, a moribund growth has been being observed on institutions that work on youth, discrimination, literacy,digital divide, communal harmony,folklore,hygiene,rural-urban migration, inclusion of new technology, charity, music and culture. These institutions in the past played key roles in churning out quality nationals. It does not mean they have to depend on foreign fund for their operations. Community, individual and government should step in so that they can function without any trouble. COVID-19 bluntly laid it bare that our health system is not working and one fine morning we will discover, to our surprise, that our country becomes an unlivable prison. And HPI and QNI may coshare positions with other doomed countries.”⁸

Notes And References:

1. “Dokshin Africae Notun Niyam: Transit Visa Lagbe Bangladeshider(Change In Regulations In South Africa: Bangladeshis Require Transit Visa)”, Jamuna News,July 22,2022. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_WHOp6u25E0
2. “Bangladeshi Passport Again 9th Weakest In World”, Dhaka Tribune, July 20,2022. https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/07/20/bangladesh-passport-again-ninth-weakest-in-world
3. “Bangladesh Ranks 103rd In Henley Passport Index2022”, Dhaka Tribune,April 04,2022. For more read at https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/01/12/bangladesh-ranks-103rd-in-henley-passport-index-2022
4. “Videshider Kacchey Bari Bikri Bondho Korechhey Justin Trudeau'r Saraker(Canada: Trudeau Govt Halts Sale Of House To Foreigners”,BBC Bangla,April 07,2022. For more read at https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-61028973
5. “Weak Passport Belies Success”,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com,October 09,2021. For more read at https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/2021/10/weak-passport-belies-success.html?m=1
6. “Bangladesh Theke Babsha Gutiye Nichhey Lafarge HolCim(Lafarge Winds Down Bangladesh Operations)”,Sylhet Today 24,October 06,2021.For more read at https://www.sylhettoday24.news/news/details/Sylhet/125786?fbclid=IwAR07pXwOgCNECDjcN9NLpKVipVlTk52NR6VUGwNlqmHyz6aVWlFr89rzGhk
7. Bangladesh Bank.
8. “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity “,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com.April 19,2021.For more read at https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/2021/04/falling-ranking-fading-identity.html?m=1

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(15 juillet --- 22 juillet)

Ma Semaine Gastronomique

Date	Petit-déjeuner	Déjeuner	Dîner	Snacks,Sucreries,Boissons et Fritures
16	Pain tchapati,Papaye-Carotte-Haricot vert-Farine de maïs,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Épinards du buffle, Ruhi poisson avec pommes de terre,Citrouilles-Papaye-Graines du jacquier,Soupe aux haricots mungo	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Papaya-Graines du jacquier- Citrouilles	Riz gonflé,Goyavier,Thé sans sucre
17	Pain tchapati,Pomme de terre,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Haricot vert et Graines du jacquier avec sec Bummalo poisson,Ruhi poisson,Gourde calebasse curry,Soupe aux haricots mungo	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Vermicelles	Riz gonflé,Vermicelles,Thé sans sucre
18	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Gourde calebasse, Lait,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Citrouille,Épinards d'eau,Ruhi poisson,Soupe des lentilles	Nouilles	Goyavier,Concombre,Vermicelles,Riz gonflé
19	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Ruhi poisson,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Amarante rouge,Haricot vert et pommes de terre,Orphie de l'eau douce	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Feuilles de l'amarante rouge,Haricot vert et pommes de terre	Riz gonflé,Arachides,Thé sans sucre
20	Pain tchapati,Haricot vert et Pommes de terre,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Feuilles de l'amarante rouge,Orphie de l'eau douce	Tchapati pain(fait par moi),Feuilles de l'amarante rouge,Ruhi poisson	Lait,Riz gonflé,Dattes
21	Pain tchapati,Papaye-Citrouille,Lait, Thé sans sucre	Riz,Œuf dur,Feuilles de l'amarante rouge,Gombo	Pain tchapati(fait par moi),Œuf dur,Feuilles de l'amarante rouge	Dattes,Riz gonflé,Thé sans sucre
22	Pain tchapati,Gombo,Lait et Datte,Thé sans sucre	Riz,Épinards d'eau,Perche grimpante,Soupe des lentilles	Parota(fait par moi),Épinards d'eau et Perche grimpante	Datte,Riz gonflé,Thé sans sucre

Weak Passport Belies Success II

Weak passport remains the same
As Bangladeshis get the blame
In Canada for soaring house price.
Henley index lays bare the development lies.

Bangladeshi passport retains 103 rd position among 116 countries for 2021 in Henley Strong Passport Index. In 2020, it held the same position. Despite the improvement from 108 to 103 in recent years, Bangladeshi passport remains one of the weakest passport (9th) in the world¹. Meanwhile, corona, internal turbulence and war made many counties' score bad. So the improvement is not an improvement at all.In the meantime, US imposed sanctions on RAB and several security establishment officials for deterioration in law and order situation. This week Canada postponed its second home program, nationality through purchase of house, for two years as property prices soar up unprecedentedly because of foreign nationals' house buying spree in that country².

Back in October last year I penned “Weak Passport Belies Success “ to highlight Henley’s then ranking of Bangladesh³. Sharing it again:

The weakening of our passport has been going on for the last seven years. In 2013,our passport was ranked at 85 in Henley Passport Index(HPI). In 2017,the green passport was slides down by 10 places. In 2019,its rank worsened further to 99.In 2020, it was ranked 101st. Perhaps not all the countries are buying our success stories⁶.

Recently, European Union published a list of asylum seekers in EU where they entered illegally by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Bangladesh ranked second in the list.

This week Lafarge Holcim cement announced that it would sell its operations in Bangladesh.⁴

E-commerce debacle left a serious blot on reputation of the government. One after another e-commerce platform that follows multilevel marketing model failed to meet customers’ need and many simply swindled money. What could have been the success story of govt's digital economy turned out to be an embarrassing point for the government.

It has been reported that government might have avoided this incident had it been stricter to malpractices.

Meanwhile, remittances shows a downward spiral following a remarkable growth last year.

In September 2021-22,Bangladesh received remittances worth $1726.29 million whereas the sum was $2171.03 million in May this year⁵However, rising oil price could break the downward spiral as construction boom may resume in the Middle Eastern countries, riding on the high oil price.

Back in April this year,I wrote a piece titled “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity” in the wake of unrevised HPI. I would like to share some part of it again:

“Education is the area where we fall behind our neighbors. In Global Knowledge Index, Bangladesh held the lowest rank in South Asia. Its position was 112th among 138 countries.Even Pakistan and Nepal were placed ahead of us (Source: Daily Star, December 12 , 2020).

In Innovation Index, Bangladesh was far behind than its South Asian neighbors. Among the 131 economies, Bangladesh occupied 116th position. It perched on that position for three consecutive years (Source: The Financial Express, September 14, 2020).

In recent years, school drop out rate, number of child marriage have also increased. I cannot figure out how we can continue our achievements in economic and development sectors with such a sorry state in education and innovation.

What complicated the matter is the presence of three different streams of education. A greater section of the population are not at the same wavelength while reading a particular event or situation and are not behaving in the right way at a crucial occasion or circumstances.

Our 14 years of schooling is not as good as others. It is casting a shadow over our overseas development markets. In middle eastern countries where our nationals mostly took up the jobs of housemaid, drivers, agricultural workers etc , Bangladeshis find themselves in awkward situation for failing to communicate in a proper manner. It is affecting their livelihoods there. Many even fall victims to deception and cheating. In Kuwait a Bangladeshi MP in connivance with Kuwaiti officials ran a human trafficking network. Thousands of Bangladeshis were lured into their traps, losing millions of Taka and risking their lives. The issue remains a sore point in the relationship between two countries and engenders overseas employment of Bangladesh in Kuwait.

Reuters last year carried a report divulging dilapidated conditions of stranded Bangladeshis , victims of human trafficking, in Bosnian jungles.

Like those cheated Bangladeshis abroad, state of our health sector does not vouch safe for our economic success story. COVID-19 laid bare the anarchy going on in this sector. Fake screening program ran by some politically-blessed quarter alarmed us about quality of our health professionals. Poorly equipped hospitals and dearth of health professionals brought us foreign grant and support in thick and fast. To our dismay, we watched that oxygen system and 300 ventilators bought with foreign credit were locked in warehouses of Dhaka International Airport for ten months. They are meant to equip the public hospitals. Meanwhile, deteriorating condition at home led to ban flights towards countries from where most of our remittances come.

With great enthusiasm and effort, Bangladesh implements infrastructure and development projects, very few turn out to be beneficial in the end. However, same vigor and enthusiasm are not displayed while creating social institutions that aim to develop human resources at the grassroot level. Tribal nature of our politics , tendency to set a yeoman at every organization are widely seen as encumbrance to developing such institution. For the last three decades, a moribund growth has been being observed on institutions that work on youth, discrimination, literacy,digital divide, communal harmony,folklore,hygiene,rural-urban migration, inclusion of new technology, charity, music and culture. These institutions in the past played key roles in churning out quality nationals. It does not mean they have to depend on foreign fund for their operations. Community, individual and government should step in so that they can function without any trouble. COVID-19 bluntly laid it bare that our health system is not working and one fine morning we will discover, to our surprise, that our country becomes an unlivable prison. And HPI and QNI may coshare positions with other doomed countries.”⁶

Notes And References:

1” Bangladesh Ranks 103rd In Henley Passport Index2022”, Dhaka Tribune,April 04,2022. For more read at https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/01/12/bangladesh-ranks-103rd-in-henley-passport-index-2022

2 “Videshider Kacchey Bari Bikri Bondho Korechhey Justin Trudeau'r Saraker(Canada: Trudeau Govt Halts Sale Of House To Foreigners”,BBC Bangla,April 07,2022. For more read at https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-61028973

3 “Weak Passport Belies Success”,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com,October 09,2021. For more read at https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/2021/10/weak-passport-belies-success.html?m=1

4 “Bangladesh Theke Babsha Gutiye Nichhey Lafarge HolCim(Lafarge Winds Down Bangladesh Operations)”,Sylhet Today 24,October 06,2021.For more read at https://www.sylhettoday24.news/news/details/Sylhet/125786?fbclid=IwAR07pXwOgCNECDjcN9NLpKVipVlTk52NR6VUGwNlqmHyz6aVWlFr89rzGhk

5 Bangladesh Bank.

6 “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity “,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com.April 19,2021.For more read at https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/2021/04/falling-ranking-fading-identity.html?m=1

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(01 avril --- 08 avril)

Selon un reportage, Pour 2021 Henley Passport Index a placé Bangladesh dans la même place que Bangladesh tenait en 2020.

Selon un reportage, Canada a reporté le programme de nationalité par achat de maison canadienne pour deux ans.

Selon un reportage, OMS dans étude a trouvé que chaque année 250.000 personnes ont décédées à cause de air pollution.

Another Tragedy Mocks Progress

Seven hapless souls perished in the sea,
Mocking the much trumpeted development story.

Another tragedy struck off the Italian coast. And 7 Bangladeshis froze to death in that tragedy. 280 illegal immigrants including 7 Bangladeshis tried to cross the Mediterranean by boat to reach their dream destination, Europe. In the middle of that fateful journey, 3 perished because of extreme cold while 4 more later died in hospital after they had been rescued by Italian coast guard¹.

The tragedy took place at a moment when government is boasting its economic indicators. This tragedy belies the much trumpeted success stories. Meanwhile, Henley And Partners two weeks ago in its passport index raised the rank of Bangladesh passport by 5 notches. This tragedy laid bare the ground reality and ridiculed the improvement made in passport ranking.

Perilous boat ride by Bangladeshis in the Mediterranean has been going on for a long time. I penned several pieces on this. Unfortunately little progress has been made and govt did little to stem the flow. Last year,a boat capsize off the Tunisian coast killed 17 Bangladeshis¹.

Tragedies after tragedies struck on foreign shores,but we seldom see local culprits are brought to book and justice is delivered to victims. There were reports of detaining few lower rank criminals ,but hardly any big criminal or public official was sentenced.Meanwhile, foreign governments were quick to take actions in such crimes. Recently, A US court sentenced a Bangladeshi-American to several years of imprisonment after he had been found running a human trafficking network in the Mexico-American border².A Kuwaiti court sentenced a Bangladeshi MP and some high-level Kuwaiti officials to 7-year of imprisonment in similar charges. After the MP had been found guilty, Bangladeshi Parliament revoked his position³. Long ago a Thai Court sentenced a General to 14-year of imprisonment after he had taken party in human trafficking operations through Thai-Malaysian jungles. Many unknown mass graves of hapless migrants were found there. Even then no high-profile Bangladeshi public official was tried by the government back then. This is the keenness and commitment shown by Bangladesh in human trafficking incidents.

Back in the 70s Bangladeshis went to Libya to build road network, apartment complex and utility network. Now 40 years later, they flocked to Libyan shores to take a risky boat ride to reach the Italian coast and made news items on foreign press. Recurrence of such tragedies exposes the flaws in our development story and seriously calls into question strength of our economy.

Notes And References:

1 “Bhumodhosagore Thandae Jomey Pran Gelo 7 Bangladeshir(7 Bangladeshis Froze To Death in The Mediterranean)”(Page-1),Daily Prothom Alo,January 26,2022

2 “US Jails Bangladeshi Man For Human Trafficking Charges”,bdnews24.com,October 01,2021. For more read https://m.bdnews24.com/en/detail/bangladesh/1846532

3 “Kuwaiti Court Jails Ex-Bangladeshi MP To 7 Years For Human Trafficking “,Ramadan Al Sherbini,Gulf News,November 28,2021. For more read https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/kuwait/kuwaiti-court-jails-ex-bangladeshi-mp-to-7-years-for-human-trafficking-1.84019786

Weak Passport Belies Success

Weak passport belies trumpeted success,
Multiple streams in education offer little access.
Vigor and enthusiasm shown in doing project,
Absent in creating institution to reduce poverty abject.

Once again Henley & Partners has weakened Bangladeshi passport. Bangladesh is ranked 108th among 116 countries, only ahead of Nepal,Pakistan and Afghanistan in the subcontinent.¹ This is something we should not be proud of and it belies the achievements government trumpets on every occasion.

The weakening of our passport has been going on for the last seven years. In 2013,our passport was ranked at 85 in Henley Passport Index(HPI). In 2017,the green passport was slides down by 10 places. In 2019,its rank worsened further to 99.In 2020, it was ranked 101st. Perhaps not all the countries are buying our success stories.⁴

Recently, European Union published a list of asylum seekers in EU where they entered illegally by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Bangladesh ranked second in the list.

This week Lafarge Holcim cement announced that it would sell its operations in Bangladesh.²

E-commerce debacle left a serious blot on reputation of the government. One after another e-commerce platform that follows multilevel marketing model failed to meet customers’ need and many simply swindled money. What could have been the success story of govt's digital economy turned out to be an embarrassing point for the government.

It has been reported that government might have avoided this incident had it been stricter to malpractices.

Meanwhile, remittances shows a downward spiral following a remarkable growth last year.

In September 2021-22,Bangladesh received remittances worth $1726.29 million whereas the sum was $2171.03 million in May this year.³However, rising oil price could break the downward spiral as construction boom may resume in the Middle Eastern countries, riding on the high oil price.

Back in April this year,I wrote a piece titled “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity” in the wake of unrevised HPI. I would like to share some part of it again:

Education is the area where we fall behind our neighbors. In Global Knowledge Index, Bangladesh held the lowest rank in South Asia. Its position was 112th among 138 countries.Even Pakistan and Nepal were placed ahead of us (Source: Daily Star, December 12 , 2020).

In Innovation Index, Bangladesh was far behind than its South Asian neighbors. Among the 131 economies, Bangladesh occupied 116th position. It perched on that position for three consecutive years (Source: The Financial Express, September 14, 2020).

In recent years, school drop out rate, number of child marriage have also increased. I cannot figure out how we can continue our achievements in economic and development sectors with such a sorry state in education and innovation.

What complicated the matter is the presence of three different streams of education. A greater section of the population are not at the same wavelength while reading a particular event or situation and are not behaving in the right way at a crucial occasion or circumstances.

Our 14 years of schooling is not as good as others. It is casting a shadow over our overseas development markets. In middle eastern countries where our nationals mostly took up the jobs of housemaid, drivers, agricultural workers etc , Bangladeshis find themselves in awkward situation for failing to communicate in a proper manner. It is affecting their livelihoods there. Many even fall victims to deception and cheating. In Kuwait a Bangladeshi MP in connivance with Kuwaiti officials ran a human trafficking network. Thousands of Bangladeshis were lured into there traps, losing millions of Taka and risking their lives. The issue remains a sore point in the relationship between two countries and engenders overseas employment of Bangladesh in Kuwait.

Reuters last year carried a report divulging dilapidated conditions of stranded Bangladeshis , victims of human trafficking, in Bosnian jungles.

Like those cheated Bangladeshis abroad, state of our health sector does not vouch safe for our economic success story. COVID-19 laid bare the anarchy going on in this sector. Fake screening program ran by some politically-blessed quarter alarmed us about quality of our health professionals. Poorly equipped hospitals and dearth of health professionals brought us foreign grant and support in thick and fast. To our dismay, we watched that oxygen system and 300 ventilators bought with foreign credit were locked in warehouses of Dhaka International Airport for ten months. They are meant to equip the public hospitals. Meanwhile, deteriorating condition at home led to ban flights towards countries from where most of our remittances come.

With great enthusiasm and effort, Bangladesh implements infrastructure and development projects, very few turn out to be beneficial in the end. However, same vigor and enthusiasm are not displayed while creating social institutions that aim to develop human resources at the grassroot level. Tribal nature of our politics , tendency to set a yeoman at every organization are widely seen as encumbrance to developing such institution. For the last three decades, a moribund growth has been being observed on institutions that work on youth, discrimination, literacy,digital divide, communal harmony,folklore,hygiene,rural-urban migration, inclusion of new technology, charity, music and culture. These institutions in the past played key roles in churning out quality nationals. It does not mean they have to depend on foreign fund for their operations. Community, individual and government should step in so that they can function without any trouble. COVID-19 bluntly laid it bare that our health system is not working and one fine morning we will discover, to our surprise, that our country becomes an unlivable prison. And HPI and QNI may coshare positions with other doomed countries.⁴

Notes And References:

1 “Bangladeshi passport now 9 th weakest globally”,The Business Standard,October 05,2021Link here

2 “Bangladesh Theke Babsha Gutiye Nichhey Lafarge HolCim(Lafarge Winds Down Bangladesh Operations)”,Sylhet Today 24,October 06,2021Link here

3 Bangladesh Bank

4 “Falling Ranking,Fading Identity “,Rezaul Hoque,April 19,2021Link Here

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(27 septembre ---- 04 octobre)
Selon un reportage, le parti en exercice continue son purge contre casino. La Banque centrale a demandé  info sur les comptes opérés par les dirigeants qui opéraient casino dans les clubs de sport.

Selon un autre reportage, presque 100 Népalais ont franchi la frontière Indo-Bangladesh suite à commencement de la raide contre casino. Ils assistaient à l'opération de casino.

Selon un reportage, National Board of Revenue a imposé restriction sur importation des équipements de casino dans un communiqué.

Selon un reportage,  l'achat de microscope et oreiller pour l'école de médecin à Chattogram, en payant prix exorbitant , a causé polémique dans la presse.

Selon un reportage, la force élite a appréhendé un homme d'affaires pour avoir opéré casino sur le cyber monde. Des Nords Coréens ont été identifiés pour l'avoir aidé. Un parquet l'a condamné à six mois de prison pour avoir gardé des animaux sauvages.


Selon un reportage, Henley & Partners a baissé le classement de Bangladesh par deux points dans l'indice de passeport. Bangladesh est classé au 99ème en 2019.Bénin et Djibouti ont révoqué l'avantage d'arrivée sans visa pour Bangladais. La décision a influencé le classement de Henley & Partners.


Selon un reportage, prête bouddhiste Satyapriyo Mahathero est mort. Il travaillait toujours pour les âmes pauvres.

Fading Passport, Fading Identity

This week Henley International Passport Index 2019 downgraded Bangladesh further, severely weakening the green passport for another consecutive year. Previous year it was ranked 97 but this year it slipped down two notches due to Benin and Djibouti's revocation of on arrival Visa facility for Bangladeshis. These two African countries are in far better position in terms of GDP per capita but the size of their economies is not as good as ours. In Benin, the Muslims constitute the second largest group of the population whereas the Muslims dominated the population in Djibouti, where both the Americans and the Chinese have strong military presence.

The group feeling did not come into play when the countries took their decisions regarding Bangladeshi nationals. The Henley Passport Index ranks passport of a country in terms of its national's ease of access to other countries. It extensively used International Air Transport Association's database to create the index.

Immediately after the country's worst terrorist attacks, Sri Lanka temporarily suspended on arrival visa facility for foreign nationals. Sri Lanka's biggest heroin seizure also occurred because Bangladeshi drug traffickers misused the facility to a great length.

Even Bhutanese parliament did not approve a bill to allow free movement of vehicles of South Asian countries in fear that small Bhutanese law-enforcement personnel will not be able to deal with an overwhelming number of vehicles and foreign nationals.

And there is more , neighboring Myanmar is still dilly dallying to take back 700,000 of Rohingyas, unjustly dubbing them illegal Bangladeshi.

The point of bringing all these examples here is to underscore our neighbor's view about us. This simply does not make us proud, give us a feeling of grandeur and an aura of being special.

Even small island nation Vanuatu, one of the few countries that give visa free access to Bangladeshis , is likely to review its decision after more than hundreds of Bangladeshis stranded in the island nation falling into the lure of human traffickers.Stranded Bangladeshis were promised to be taken to Australia. Instead, traffickers brought them to Vanuatu to extract money from them, taking full advantage of visa free facility. The Vanuatu court was taken aback by the fraudulent incident and urged the International Office for Migration to intervene.

The weakening of our passport has been going on for the last six years. In 2013, our passport was ranked 85 in HPI. In 2017, the green passport was slided down by 10 places to 95. In 2019, its rank worsened further to 99. Perhaps not all the countries are buying our staggering economic success stories.

Henley Passport Index Source:Henley & Partners

In many countries of Europe, Bangladeshis topped the list of boat-riding asylum seekers. War-torn Syrian refugees, whose 14-year of quality schooling made them more sought after refugees, are welcomed in many countries but not the Bangladeshis, whose 14-year of schooling is not as good as that of other refugees.

This is also writ large on the quality of nationality index (QNI), conceived by Dimitry Kochenov and Christian H. Kälin. QNI ranks qualities of nationalities based on factors like economic strength, human development, ease of travel, political stability and overseas employment opportunities. In 2012, Bangladesh was placed at 129th position. In 2015, it was downgraded to 138. In 2017, it was further downgraded to 149. Like HPI, QNI is also maintained by Henley & Partners. I am sure these guys did not start a malign campaign against us.

Quality of Nationality Index Source:Henley & Partners

Another interesting measure of how other nations view us would be the kind of foreign envoys they send to our country. Last three of the US diplomats were at the last leg of their diplomatic careers. State Department did not give them new assignment. At least two of them, including the current ambassador, are close to defense establishment and held important posts in war-ravaged and corruption-stricken countries.

Previous British High Commissioner to Bangladesh was sent to Afghanistan. At least two of the former British High Commissioners to Bangladesh were sent to the Caribbean islands as envoys. One of them, who played an instrumental role during the 1/11 government rule, was recalled by the UK foreign ministry on disciplinary grounds and the other one was never integrated into the system.

Meanwhile, we sent our crème de la crème of career diplomats to these countries. However, during the 80's and early 90's we sent controversial political appointees to developed countries. One powerful EU country even refused to accept one such appointee as ambassador because he was not worthy for the position. It appeared that he was father of a secret lover of the then powerful dictator. Government changes but this kind of behavior left a negative impression on bilateral relations, which is often reflected in reciprocal conduct. Even Myanmar receives career diplomats of powerful countries as top envoys since its resumption of democracy.

Much trumpeted social indicators and economic achievements did not bar others to quarantine us in barbed wire encampments. Now we see this barbed wire also exists in bilateral relations. It is evident that sweat-money filled forex reserves, inequality driven GDP growth rate, eye dazzling structures and military strength did not convince others that we deserve to be treated as equal global citizens.Downgrading of our passport and nationals is an eye opener to the fact that we need to do lot more to develop our human resources.