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State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on Saturday that the government is not worried about the US visa restriction as Washington started imposing it on Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the country’s democratic election process.
"We have nothing to lose, we are not worried about it because we are not doing anything wrong,” he told reporters at a briefing at his residence in Gulshan on Saturday night, hours after the US state department came up with the announcement.
He, however, called the development “not a pleasing experience” but added “We have to go through it”.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller issued the statement, saying Bangladeshi individuals, which include members of law enforcement, the ruling party, and the political opposition, would come under the purview of the restriction.
"Today, the 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,” read the statement.
Alam said Washington has informed Dhaka regarding their decision under the new US policy, which the US said was aimed at supporting Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections.
Asked if Dhaka had approached the US to enforce the policy after the Bangladesh elections, Alam replied in the negative, saying Dhaka never approached Washington with any such request.
"Earlier, some political parties tried to establish that the US visa restriction would be imposed on only the ruling political party, but the US today again made it clear that the new policy is applicable to both the ruling and opposition political parties,” he said.
Alam said the government expected that the US government would implement the new visa restriction policy after properly reviewing facts and figures in a fair way.
"If it appears that we are facing troubles in carrying out our government's work for the imposition of visa restrictions on any particular individual, Dhaka will discuss such cases with Washington,” he said.
The state minister said Washington gave Dhaka an idea of how many individuals came under its visa restrictions and “what I can tell you is that the number is small"
The state minister said the government believed that members of BNP-Jamaat appeared more vulnerable to the US visa restriction as they were involved in acts to foil the next election.
On the other hand, he said, the government remained committed to holding a free, fair, and violence-free election under the existing constitutional provisions.
In May this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this new visa policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) (“3C”) of their Immigration and Nationality Act to support Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections.
The US state department spokesperson said Saturday the US visa restriction included current and former Bangladeshi officials, members of opposition and ruling political parties, and members of law enforcement, the judiciary, and security services.
These persons and members of their immediate family may be found ineligible for entry into the United States, he said.
Millar said additional persons found to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh might also be treated as ineligible for US visas in the future.
"Our actions today reflect the continued commitment of the United States to supporting Bangladesh’s goal of peacefully holding free and fair national elections, and to support those seeking to advance democracy globally,” the US official said.