Fake govt staffs being trafficked

When all eyes are on human trafficking by sea, a new trick of smuggling people into Europe in the guise of government officials has been exposed.

Official passports, government permissions and orders were arranged for the foreign trips of three Bangladeshis. Everything was managed so well that even the immigration police couldn't detect the forgery.

The fraud was exposed by a letter of the Turkish government to the Bangladesh foreign ministry, said home ministry sources.

The letter named three people for allegedly carrying fake official passports. It also included their passport numbers.

The immigration and passport department probed the matter and found the allegation to be true. Initially, four of its officials and staff were suspended for "verifying" the passports and affixing signatures to them.

The four are Munshi Mueed Ikram, director at the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP); SM Shahjahan, assistant director; Shahjahan Miah, senior assistant; and M Saiful Islam.

In the suspension letters, the DIP said such an incident has tarnished the country's image abroad. The department also formed an inquiry committee to find out 

if there were any others behind the forgery.

Admitting the passport forgery, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said the government would take stern action against traffickers.

"Many names can be revealed by the investigation. But we can't do anything without verifying the findings of the investigation. I can assure you that if any political leader or government official was found involved in human trafficking, he would be brought to book as per the prime minister's order," the state minister told a Meet the Press event at the secretariat.

According to the Turkish government's letter, Taufiqul Islam (passport# 5125845), Mamunur Rashid (passport# 6126042) and Amin Uddin (passport# 1126639) travelled on fake documents.

Under a bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Turkey, government officials of both the countries can visit each other's country without a visa. Reaching Turkey, Bangladeshi officials can easily get visas to Europe, according to home ministry sources.

A trafficking gang with the help of some corrupt government officials has been taking undue advantage of the agreement, added the sources.