More than one lakh foreigners are now working in Bangladesh illegally and the number is on the rise with the government taking no initiative to check the illegal practice causing serious concern about the national security and aggravating unemployment, experts said.
Most of these foreigners enter Bangladesh on tourist visa and overstay here taking jobs violating the laws and without any work permit, a senior official of the home ministry told New Age.
A high official of the Special Branch of police said that about 3.5 lakh foreigners were now working in the country and more than 1 lakh of them did not have any work permit.
Special branch officials said that the foreigners were working illegally mainly in garment industries, buying houses, information technology and telecom industries, advertising agencies, restaurants and press and printing industries.
The government, however, has no data of those foreigners working illegally in Bangladesh.
Home ministry joint secretary Shafiqul Islam, working in security and immigration department, said that the ministry did not have any data of foreigners working illegally in the country.
‘We have asked the special branch for preparing lists of both legal and illegal foreigners living in the country,’ he said.
Immigration police officer-in-charge Mominul Islam said that they had no data of illegal foreigners but they were now trying to develop a system to identify them.
The Board of Investment in 2011 formed an eight-member committee headed by board of investment executive chairman to make a list of the legal and illegal foreigners staying in the country.
An official concerned said that the committee so far held only a meeting and no further development was made yet in this regard.
The Board of Investment executive chairman, Syed A Samad, could not be reached for a comment despite several attempts.
Home secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed, however, said that there was no need for preparing a list of foreigners working illegally.
‘If foreigner found staying illegally in the country, we immediately take action sent the person back to the respective country,’ he said.
Asked whether the ministry has any list of foreigner deported for staying illegally in the country, he said the special branch might have such list.
Economist Anu Muhammad said that the foreigners were serving in the country illegally depriving the local jobseekers while the country was suffering from severe unemployment.
He said that he was personally informed that some local companies hired foreigners in the name of experts while such experts were available in the country.
If the government fails to take immediate action against the illegal foreigners, it would hamper the environment of investment, he said.
He suspected that illegal foreigners might be used illegal currency business, money laundering and others illegal financial activates, affecting the country’s economy badly.
Security experts feared that the foreigners staying illegally here might be a threat to the country’s security.
The Bank and Financial Institutions Division also suspected that the illegal foreigners might have involvement in money laundering and terror financing.
A Bangladesh Bank official said that the division in May asked the Bangladesh Finance Intelligence Unit of the central bank to identify illegal foreigners and take steps to stop money laundering and terror financing.
The official said that the intelligence unit already sought help from the central bank’s foreign currency department, immigration department, the Special Branch of police, postal department and foreign affairs, law and commerce ministries in this regard.
He said that that central bank held a meeting with different departments and organisations on initiatives against the illegal foreigners involved in money laundering and terror financing.
The special branch had informed the meeting that most of the illegal foreigners were working in garment sector and most of them were from India, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, China and Hong Kong.
‘It is easier for illegal foreigners to be involved in criminal activities as they are not bound to abide by the law,’ said Centre for Peace and Security Studies chief retired major general ANM Muniruzzaman.
Former inspector general of police SM Shazhan said that it was the state’s duty to maintain statistics of the persons entering or exiting the country.
‘The government is bound to monitor the foreigners’ activities and if they fail, it would be a matter of threat for the country’s security,’ he said, adding that the international militant groups might get benefits from it.
-With New Age input
