Bangladesh's enlistment on US bond not unusual: Foreign Affairs Adviser

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain has said that Bangladesh's position on the US bond list is not unusual. He made this comment at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (January 8).

Touhid Hossain said that the decision that America has taken is not only about Bangladesh. Bangladesh is also among many countries. There are some countries that have problems with immigration. You have seen the statistics of Americans, there are Bangladeshis among those who go there and take money from their social system like this. "If they impose such restrictions on some countries, Bangladesh will be among them, it does not seem very unusual to me. However, it is certainly sad and difficult."

He said: "If all of them had gone in the last one year, then I would have said that we are responsible. If the problem had arisen in this one year, I would have also said that the government has some responsibility. This system has been going on for a long time. So if you take responsibility, if anyone has policy responsibility, it is all the previous governments. We could not change that, it is not possible to change it. Because this government does not have the capacity to stop this movement of people, no government has. What I can say from the policy side is that from the first day, we have been speaking out against irregular migration."

He said that people dying or being rescued while crossing the Mediterranean continue to surface, describing them as victims deserving sympathy, while noting that laws are also being violated.

According to information published on the US Department of State travel website, nationals of 38 countries will be required to post a visa bond of up to US$15,000 when applying to enter the United States.

The US had initially included six countries in the visa bond list in August last year, later adding seven more. On Tuesday, another 25 countries, including Bangladesh were added.

The website said the bond requirement for the newly added countries, with a few exceptions, will come into effect from January 21.