Envoys from several Western nations have expressed support for Bangladesh’s newly introduced Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants Ordinance 2025, signalling growing international confidence in the country’s efforts to curb irregular migration and document fraud.
Diplomatic representatives from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands conveyed their support during a meeting held on Wednesday at the office of the Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy, Lutfey Siddiqi, according to a statement released by the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing on Thursday.
Senior officials from Bangladesh’s law enforcement and security agencies attended the meeting, including representatives from the Special Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department, National Security Intelligence, the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The interim government introduced the ordinance to address the root causes of fraudulent visa applications and irregular migration from Bangladesh. The new law criminalises the smuggling of migrants, including facilitation through forged or falsified documents.
Participants noted that until recently there had been a perception among some foreign missions that Bangladesh was not taking sufficient action against the use of fraudulent documents in visa applications. This, they said, had eroded trust and contributed to delays in visa processing. Diplomats highlighted the role of unethical brokers operating both domestically and abroad, often through social media platforms, while prosecutions in the past had remained limited.
Several examples were cited during the discussions. One embassy reported receiving more than 600 visa applications supported by fake job offer letters, while another said it had processed 300 tourist visa applications from the same locality, all accompanied by falsified bank statements issued by a single bank. In another case, a Facebook page was reported to have collected several hundred thousand takas from 70 victims before being shut down. Law enforcement agencies confirmed that prosecutions are now under way in all such cases.
Officials also noted that immigration police offloaded an average of more than 40 individuals per day last year due to irregularities. Concerns were raised over the misuse of visa-on-arrival airports as transit points for illegal onward travel to third countries. One country reported receiving more than 6,000 asylum applications last year from Bangladeshi nationals who had originally entered on student or work visas.
Diplomats warned that declining confidence in Bangladeshi documents has significantly increased visa processing times in some countries, while one nation has temporarily suspended visa applications pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation in Bangladesh.
Amid the concerns, some positive developments were highlighted. United Commercial Bank was commended for introducing QR codes on bank statements to improve verification, with calls for similar measures to be adopted across the banking sector. Recent progress in intelligence-sharing agreements was also acknowledged, strengthening coordination against transnational crime.
The effective use of technical assistance tools, including the EU Returnee Case Management System, was noted, although participants observed that immigration officers often receive specialist training only to be transferred shortly afterwards.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training reported that most of its processes are now fully automated and linked to immigration police systems, enabling authorities to monitor exits and re-entry of BMET card holders for the first time.
The meeting also addressed the regulation of recruitment practices, noting that while primary recruiting agents are registered and monitored, sub-agents operating at local levels remain largely unregulated. Participants stressed the importance of public awareness campaigns to protect citizens from broker-related exploitation.
Bangladesh’s accession to the Hague Apostille Convention was discussed, with emphasis placed on ensuring that apostilles issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are fully authentic in both origin and content.
The meeting concluded with all sides acknowledging the interim government’s strong commitment to addressing migration-related challenges in a transparent manner. The envoys praised the current level of cooperation from Bangladesh, describing it as unprecedented.
