Dhaka, Sept 22 (PTI) The United States on Friday said it is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi nationals who are seen to be interfering in or “undermining” the upcoming democratic election process in the South Asian nation.
General elections are supposed to be held in Bangladesh in late December or January 2024.
Individuals, including members of law enforcement agencies, the ruling party, and the political opposition would come under the purview of the restriction as the “United States is committed to supporting free and fair elections in Bangladesh that are carried out in a peaceful manner,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“The (US) Department of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh,” the statement said.
“These persons and members of their immediate family may be found ineligible for entry into the United States,” it said.
Miller said the US action reflects the continued commitment of America to supporting Bangladesh’s goal of peacefully holding free and fair national elections, and to support those seeking to advance democracy globally.
The development came a day after the European Union (EU) said it would not deploy a full election observer team to Bangladesh, citing a lack of “necessary conditions”.
EU ambassador Charles Whiteley on Thursday said the bloc would not deploy a “fully-fledged” observer mission. While the EU took into account budget constraints, it said the decision also “reflects the fact that at the present time, it is not sufficiently clear whether the necessary conditions will be met”.
The EU is Bangladesh’s largest trade partner. The 27-member bloc is the destination of more than half of the South Asian nation’s USD 55 billion export merchandise.
Dhaka is yet to officially respond to the US announcement.
However, ruling Awami League’s joint secretary general Mahbubul Alam Hanif told a local newspaper, “We are not afraid of any such ban.” “The visa policy imposed on Bangladesh is extremely humiliating and disrespectful to this nation. There can never be a separate visa policy for a country,” he said.
A foreign ministry official has asked newsmen to wait for Dhaka’s official response soon.
A spokesperson of the US embassy in Dhaka, meanwhile, said the United States by now has already enforced visa restrictions on some members of law enforcement agencies, ruling party officials and the opposition activists.
Spokesperson Bryan Schiller the restrictions were imposed after the US cautiously reviewed the evidence against them but declined to disclose the names, citing the list as “secret visa records”.
The US had earlier questioned Bangladesh’s human rights situation and political inclusiveness. Last year it slapped visa restriction on several current and former officials of the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on charges of alleged extra-judicial killings.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had sternly criticised the US action and said she believed America did not want her government to remain in power.
She had also hinted that the US wanted military access to St Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal, an allegation denied by the state department. PTI AR SCY SCY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.