he Crime Desk: 50,000 foreign nationals were staying illegally in Bangladesh. The illegal foreign nationals were ordered to leave the country by applying in December last year. As per that instruction, 15,618 nationals left Bangladesh till January. Still 33,648 foreign nationals are staying illegally in the country. The Home Ministry has formed an 11-member task force to determine what to do about these illegal nationals.
The Additional Secretary of the Home Ministry’s Security Services Division (Security and Immigration) has been given the responsibility of convening the task force, and the Joint Secretary of the Immigration-2 Branch has been given the responsibility of member secretary of the committee.
According to sources in the Visa Branch of the Home Ministry’s Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP), on December 8, the Home Ministry advised foreign nationals living in Bangladesh without a valid visa to take necessary action as per the existing rules. It was also warned that legal action will be taken if the visa validity is not extended or renewed. As of December 31, 15,000 applications were submitted to the Passport Department to extend or renew visas. Most of them are Indians. There are also citizens of China and South Korea.
According to sources from the Special Branch (SB) of the police, 27,000 Indian citizens residing in Bangladesh have expired visas. Chinese citizens were in second place among foreigners residing in Bangladesh with expired visas. About 10,000 Chinese citizens have expired visas.
According to the Visa Branch of the DIP, these foreigners whose visas have expired will have to pay a fine and renew their visas before leaving Bangladesh or risk legal complications.
