Bangladesh restores ‘valid for all countries except Israel’ clause on passports
Dhaka: Amid public anger against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has barred its citizens from travelling to the Jewish state.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Bangladesh government has reintroduced the “except Israel” inscription on its passports, which was removed by the Sheikh Hasina government in 2021, at a time when Israel was being censured globally for its attacks in Gaza.
Bangladesh’s Home Ministry issued a directive asking the passport and immigration department to reinstate the sentence “THIS PASSPORT IS VALID FOR ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD EXCEPT ISRAEL” in the official travel permits for citizens visiting abroad.
“We issued the letter (directive) on April 7,” Nilima Afroze, Deputy Secretary of Home Ministry’s Security Services Division, told a foreign news agency.
Older Bangladeshi passports used to contain a sentence– “This passport is valid for all the countries of the world except Israel.” It was dropped in 2021 during the Awami League government led by now-deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
“No one from Bangladesh can visit Israel”, and if anyone does, “legal action will be taken against that person,” the AK Abdul Momen, the country’s foreign minister at the time, told an Arab channel.
