La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(15 avril --- 21 avril)

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Ma Semaine Gastronomique

Date	Petit déjeuner/Début de jeûne	Déjeuner	Dîner	Snacks,Sucreries,Boissons et Fritures/Fin de jeûne
15	Riz rassis, Haricot vert,Purée de pomme de terre	---	---	Riz,Pois chiches, Soupe aux haricots mungo,Gourde épineuse,Œuf dur,Tomate,Glace,Jaggery
16	Riz rassis,Soupe aux haricots mungo,Gourde épineuse,Purée de pomme de terre	---	---	Riz rassis,Purée de pomme de terre,Tomate,Pois chiches, Œuf dur
17	Riz rassis,Purée de pomme de terre,Soupe aux haricots mungo	---	---	Riz rassis,Pois chiches,Jaggery,Tomate,Haricots vert,Crevettes, Jus de Tamarin
18	Riz rassis,Jus de Tamarin,Purée de pomme de terre,Crevettes,Œuf dur	---	Riz,Poisson chat à moustache longue,Pomme de terre	Riz rassis,Pois chiches,Poisson chat à moustache longue,Tomate,Jaggery
19	Riz,Œuf dur,Purée de pomme de terre,Œuf dur,Poisson chat à moustache longue	---	Riz,Poulet	Pois chiches,Riz rassis,Poulet,Nouilles,Tomate
20	Riz,Pomme de terre,Œuf dur,Gombo,Poulet	---	Riz,Pomme de terre,Haricot vert,Gobie charmante	Riz rassis,Pomme de terre,Œuf dur,Haricot vert,Pois chiches, Tomate,Jaggery
21	Riz,Pomme de terre,Gobie charmante,Haricot vert	---	Riz,Pomme de terre,Gobie charmante	Riz rassis,Pois chiches,Poulet,Haricot vert,Purée de pomme de terre,Tomate

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(14 octobre --- 21 octobre)

Ma Semaine Gastronomique

Date	Petit déjeuner	Déjeuner	Dîner	Snacks,Sucreries,Boissons et Fritures
15	Pain tchapati,Lait	Riz,Radis,Ruhi,Soupe aux lentilles plat	Pain tchapati,Ruhi,Radis,Soupe aux lentilles plat	Riz gonflé
16	Pain tchapati,Radis	Riz,Ruhi,Feuilles de l'amarante rouge,Ruhi,Radis,Haricot vert,Soupe aux lentilles	Pain tchapati,Haricot vert,Soupe aux lentilles	---
17	Pain tchapati, Haricot vert	Riz,Soupe aux lentilles, Calebasse gourde,Haricot vert,Ruhi	Pain tchapati,Purée de pomme de terre, Omelette	Jhal mury
18	Pain tchapati,Omelette	Riz,Purée de pomme de terre,Courge amère,Papaye-Citrouille,Soupe aux lentilles, Lait	Pain tchapati,Papaye-Citrouille	Jhal mury
19	Pain tchapati,Papaye-Citrouille	Riz,Soupe aux haricots mungo, Calebasse gourde,Feuilles de l'amarante rouge	Pain tchapati,Purée de pomme de terre, Omelette	Riz gonflé, Lait
20	Pain tchapati,Omelette,Calebasse gourde	Riz,Radis-Puntio barbe,Gombo	Pain tchapati,Radis,Gombo	Riz gonflé, Lait
21	Pain tchapati,Radis	Riz,Épinard, Ruhi	Nouilles	---

Eroding Trust,Diminishing Sympathy

From Thai jungles to the Mediterranean sea,
Govt plays deaf to fortune seekers plea.
As inaction causes trouble on foreign shore,
Sympathy for the country is no more.

According to a news report European Union is going to introduce harshest visa policy temporarily for Bangladesh as it failed to deal with illegal Bangladeshis stranded across European countries.Back in 2017,Bangladesh signed an agreement with EU to bring back the illegal Bangladeshi emigrants. As the country failed to live up to its pledges, EU is considering to make harder obtaining the Schengen visa,curbing multiple visa facility, prolong the procedure of getting visa and impose tariff on visas for Bangladeshi diplomats.¹

In the past I wrote a number of pieces---”Need For A William “,”Governance Crisis: From Local Alleys To Foreign Shores”,”Perilous Plight Of Modern Day Vikings”,”A Loosing Scheme”---on human trafficking from Bangladesh and conditions of trapped Bangladeshis abroad. I share some of the nuggets of old pieces here.

In recent years, Bangladeshis topped the list of boat-riding asylum seekers. According to European Union, 93435 Bangladeshis are staying illegally in European countries. Bangladesh strongly contested the figure. According to Ministry of Interior, Italy, 8131 Bangladeshis entered illegally in 2016 and in the first six months of 2017, 8436 Bangladeshis were identified as illegal emigrant^{2 & 3}.

A survey by IOM reveals that on average illegal Bangladeshis paid more than $5,000 to human traffickers to reach Italy taking a perilous boat ride. Dubai-Istanbul-Tripoli turned out to be their preferred route to reach Libya.Traffickers locked them in Libya for one year and forced them to work in homes and restaurants.³

More recently, Tunisian coast guard rescued 443 Bangladeshis from the Mediterranean sea between May 18 and June 10 of this year⁴.

Back in 2018,in USA, Texas news papers were carrying reports how everyday Texas border patrol nabbed illegal Bangladeshis while crossing the Rio Grande river. Casting serious doubts over Bangladesh’s trumpeting of its economic achievements.⁵

Recent addition to human trafficking incident was a Bangladeshi MP who was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment by a Kuwaiti court for human trafficking and money laundering. Not only that many high ranking Kuwaiti officials were also found guilty in such incidents. This insinuates how far and wide such trafficking racket is stretched⁶.

But such mass human trafficking through sea all started in 2014. UNHCR in a report revealed that 25000 Bangladeshis embarked on illegal and risky boat ride to reach Malaysia in the first quarter of 2015. And 5400 illegal fortune seekers were detained in various prisons of the countries bin Asia and Pacific region⁷.

Discovery of mass graves of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Thai-Malaysian jungles and sentence of a Thai General did little to beef-up Bangladeshi efforts to curb the incidence of trafficking.

Sending people abroad is a lucrative trade and government recognizes the industry as “man power business”. There is even a ministry to look after the well beings of the expatriates .

Since it is an industry, all sorts of practices, fair and unfair, are going on here no holds barred. People are so desperate to go to their dream destinations , they are even ready to pay more than the required cost. They are poised to work under harsh conditions and to embrace any situation to make their fortune abroad.

A parasitic class was born out of their desire and desperation. This class exploits the vulnerabilities of would-be foreign workers and share the rents with the corrupt politicians and officials.

Inhumane sufferings of the migrant workers are often ignored as long as remittances are kept coming. Unlike the workers from other countries, the Bangladeshi workers do not find their govt on their sides when they are in trouble in foreign soils.

When a govt evades its responsibility about its own citizens, other countries are less interested to take their responsibility, particularly when the country is not paralyzed by problems.

Govt of Bangladesh is guilty of two counts: first, it allows a modern day slave trade in its soil ; second, it disowns its own citizens when they are in distress³.

As tragedy after tragedy strikes on foreign shore,govt, being guardian and protector of the have-nots, has failed to stop human trafficking.Turning a blind eye to such crime only unfolds bigger catastrophe. Other responsible govts will not sit idle when sheer size of the problem causes unease at their countries. Bilateral relations may survive the twists and turns but sympathy towards Bangladesh may diminish. Suggestion for tougher EU visa policy for Bangladeshis is an indication to that direction.

Notes And References:

1 “Bangladeshider Visae Korakorir Suparish(Harsher Visa Restrictions Suggested On Bangladesh) “,Raheed Ejaj,Daily Prothom Alo,August 27,2021.

2 “Bangladesh Under Threat On EU Visa Restrictions “,Dhaka Tribune,June 25,2017.Link here

3 “Need For A William “,Rezaul Hoque,https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com,July 31,2021Link here

4 “La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux(11 juin --- 18 juin)”,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/

5 “Governance Crisis: From Local Alleys To Foreign Shores”,Rezaul Hoque,https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com,January 16,2019,Link here

6 “Kuwait: Bangladeshi MP Gets 4 Years In Jail,Fined KD1.9 M For Human Trafficking”,Ramadan Al Sherbini,Gulf News, January 19,2021.Link here

7 “Cries In The Wood”,Rezaul Hoque,https://rezaulhoque.wordpnress.com/,May 14,2015.Link here

The Untouchables

Black money lies idle in foreign bank.
Among the launderers are leaders in high rank.
No accountability in institutions feeds the anarchy.
Progress made so far is in jeopardy.

A Bangladeshi daily recently divulged that Anti Corruption Commission had found $1 billion worth of money deposited in a Singaporean bank. The account had no nominee. It belonged to a Bangladeshi citizen. The report claimed the owner of the account was a Bangladeshi politician who was hanged for war crimes he had committed in 1971. His wife and children abstained from claiming the money, following their lawyer's advice to avoid any legal repercussions.

The incident once again laid bare gravity of corruption and money laundering taking place in Bangladesh. When it comes to plunder people's money, both the ruling party and the opposition are found on the same boat.

Earlier Singaporean media and Panama Papers revealed that brother of a ruling party politician and owner of a Bangladeshi corporate group was included in the list of Singapore billionaires. Despite the zero controversy involved in amassing the money, political connection and how the wealth was amassed provided enough air to run the rumor mill wild.

Hanged opposition politician was parliamentary advisor to then PM. In addition, he had run his own business affairs. His family members also head several business conglomerates in the country. Similarly, brother of the Bangladeshi billionaire in Singapore once headed the parliamentary committee for defense and held important portfolios.

Revelation of their documented and undocumented wealth in the media while they are holding important positions exposes impunity and less regard to public perception enjoyed by some public figures. In a civilized country, such revelation will lead to fall of government or resignation of concerned person.

Only recently government bodies displayed great concern and effort to detect and recover such clandestine wealth. Earlier such bodies were reluctant to make a move in this regard. The institutions established to detect and provide regular info about such wealth failed to live up to their utility. I came across an investigative report, carried by an online news outlet based in a foreign country, couple of months ago. It revealed that brother of the chief of a powerful institution, who received president's mercy for killing a person, was seen in a gathering with a notable politician of an off-shore heaven country in South East Asia. I previously ignored the report considering it as a political propaganda. But the recent news report evoked the photograph of that investigative story and underscored the nexus between such institution and corruption taking place at political corridor.

Earlier a report about a businessman who mediated arms purchase caused consternation in local press. He amassed huge fortune in Swiss banks and even appeared before Anti Corruption hearing.

Lack of accountability of these institutions perpetuates corruption and propels capital flight from the country towards off-shore heavens. The lack of accountability also let the vested quarter take unfair advantage of these institutions.

Meanwhile, inaction of these institutions also help seeding distrust and fear into the minds of the people. This hopelessness, in turn, contributes to capital flight and human trafficking. So one is feeding the another.

When disciples of rigid ideologies challenged existing laws, customs, traditions defying laws on the streets, it would not be naive to surmise this kind of statement. Specially when some of them found safe sanctuaries in many off-shore heaven countries. Even the architect of rapprochement between disciples of rigid ideologies and government breathed his last at a specialized hospital in Singapore this year. It is indeed interesting to see that the mastermind did not feel confident to take treatment in a country that is evolving under his mediation.

Let's just set aside the high profile political money transfer. Literally, businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats regularly launder money abroad. No one would raise concern if Bangladesh were a prosperous and welfare country. And inequality reached such a worrying level.

Advertisement of an international LED television manufacturer struck me. It pleaded the consumers to purchase LED TV set at a set price before the limited stock got finished as the manufacturing plant in Malaysia was shut down because of COVID-19. 170 million consumers' LED TV manufacturing plant was built in Malaysia! Sometimes I wonder how Bangladesh has become peripheral colony of off-shore heavens with the assistance of local powerful institutions. From cooking oil to port fees , this trace of hidden colonialism can be found.

In Bangladesh, we see sales executive of local commercial banks solicit people to bank with them and to have a credit/ debit card of their banks. Sometimes I have this weird feeling that perpetrators of corrupt acts, rioters, hatred preachers, disciples of rigid ideologies work just like sales executives of off-shore heavens to get new clients for them.

We are paying a high price for lack of accountability in key institutions. Bangladesh has been turned into a lawless jungle, a dumping ground of obsolete ideology, a transit route for drugs, a safe sanctuary for human traffickers, home of nouveau super rich and a paradise for money launderers.

Fortune lying idle in foreign banks is a stark reminder that establishing accountability in key institutions could stem the generation and laundering of such wealth.