Lahore, 23rd May: Bangladesh has clarified that the travel ban to Israel remains in place but only the e-passport has been changed to maintain international standards.
News has been circulating in the media and social media since yesterday that Bangladesh has lifted its travel ban for its citizens to Israel and has also changed the words on its passport.
However, a statement issued by the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry on Sunday clarified this.
The statement said, “It seems that this misunderstanding has arisen from the new e-passport booklet which does not contain the words ‘all countries except Israel’.”
Bangladesh’s news website BDNews24 also reported a statement by Interior Minister Asadulzaman Khan Kamal yesterday in which he said, “This has been done to maintain international standards and No change in policy.
The confusion appears to have stemmed from the new e-passports which dropped an old declaration — “all countries except Israel”. https://t.co/20lyFE4yMx
— bdnews24.com (@bdnews24com) May 23, 2021
However, he added that ‘no country uses these words anymore, a visa is required to travel to any country.’
Explaining this, the Foreign Ministry statement said, “These words have been taken out in order to maintain Bangladesh’s e-passport in line with international standards.”
This does not mean that Bangladesh’s foreign policy towards the Middle East has changed.
The statement added that ‘holders of Bangladeshi passports are barred from traveling to Israel.’
“The government of Bangladesh has not backed down from its position on the issue of Israel and Bangladesh is steadfast in its position in this regard,” the statement added.
A statement from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said that the government had strongly condemned Israel’s use of force against Gaza.
Bangladesh strongly condemns Israeli violence https://t.co/YkIgoAB3NH pic.twitter.com/C9D8jKpy4i
— Bangladesh Diplomacy (@BDDiplomacy) May 13, 2021
It should be noted that a large protest rally was held in Bangladesh as well as other countries against the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
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