Visa restrictions: Do govt officials think its much ado about nothing?
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he had no comments regarding the imposition of US visa restrictions on Bangladeshis
Nothing to say. It won't affect us.
These have been pretty much the go-to response to the US visa restrictions, two days after it was announced that the US had begun steps to impose the curbs as seen fit.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday (23 September), Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen declared that Bangladeshi voters were not bothered by the US visa restrictions because they were probably not thinking of going to the US.
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He also said the restriction did not bother the government.
"The US is a democracy, so are we," he said.
On Sunday (24 September), Election Commissioner Ahsan Habib was asked about the issue while disclosing the letter the CEC had sent to the European Union in regard to their decision to not send a full election observer team for the national elections.
"It is a matter of the country that has done it and the government of that country. We have nothing to say here. We will conduct elections according to the constitution," he said.
On the same day while speaking to journalists at the Secretariat, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he had no comments regarding the imposition of US visa restrictions on Bangladeshis, as he is yet to know who is on the list.
"Moreover, the visa policy is up to them. Who they will allow into their country and who they won't is up to them. We have no comments on that."
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) also assured that the recently implemented US visa policy would have no adverse effects on the members of the Bangladesh Police or their duties.
"We have over 2 lakh personnel in the Bangladesh Police. Now, the question arises: How many of them genuinely want to go to America? The answer is quite minimal. Considering this perspective, we firmly believe that this visa restriction will not have any impact on the police," DMP Spokesperson and Deputy Commissioner Faruk Hossain said during an interaction with reporters at the DMP Media Center on Sunday (24 September).
