Dhaka:

 The USA has Mentioned it’s taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi nationals who’re seen to be interfering in or “undermining” the upcoming democratic election course of within the South Asian nation.

Basic elections are alleged to be held in Bangladesh in late December or January 2024.

Reacting to the US announcement made on Friday, Bangladesh mentioned although the event is “not a lovely expertise”, Dhaka is “not apprehensive” as it’s doing nothing flawed.

“Right this moment, the (US) Division of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi people answerable for or complicit in undermining the democratic election course of in Bangladesh,” US State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned in an announcement.

“These individuals and members of their quick household could also be discovered ineligible for entry into the US,” the assertion mentioned.

People, together with members of legislation enforcement companies, the ruling social gathering, and the political opposition would come underneath the purview of the restriction because the “United States is dedicated to supporting free and honest elections in Bangladesh which might be carried out in a peaceable method,” it mentioned.

Miller mentioned the US motion displays the continued dedication of America to assist Bangladesh’s aim of peacefully holding free and honest nationwide elections, and to assist these looking for to advance democracy globally.

US Beneath Secretary for Civilian Safety, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya shared the announcement on her account on X, previously Twitter, simply hours after she met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who’s presently in New York to affix the UN Basic Meeting’s annual assembly.

Bryan Schiller, spokesperson of the US embassy in Dhaka, mentioned the US has by now enforced visa restrictions towards some members of legislation enforcement companies, ruling social gathering officers and opposition activists.

The restrictions have been imposed after the US cautiously reviewed the proof towards the people, he mentioned.

Schiller, nevertheless, declined to reveal the names, calling the checklist “secret visa information”.

In a media briefing hours after the US announcement, Bangladesh’s Minister of State for Overseas Affairs Shahriar Alam mentioned his nation has nothing to lose.

“We have now nothing to lose, we aren’t apprehensive about it as a result of we aren’t doing something flawed,” he mentioned.

The event is “not a lovely expertise” however “we have now to undergo it”, he mentioned. He mentioned he anticipated the US authorities to implement the brand new visa restriction coverage after reviewing information and figures in a good method.

The junior international minister mentioned Washington has given Dhaka an thought of the variety of people who will face the visa restrictions. “What I can inform you is that the quantity is small,” he mentioned.

Alam mentioned the federal government believes the Bangladesh Nationalist Get together (BNP), Bangladesh’s fundamental opposition social gathering, and its fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami seem extra weak to the US visa restrictions as they have been concerned in acts geared toward foiling the following election.

The BNP has been campaigning to revive a non-party caretaker authorities to supervise the elections, claiming that no polls underneath Hasina’s administration can be free.

It has staged a collection of protests demanding Hasina’s resignation to permit a non-party caretaker authorities to supervise the polls.

The BNP and different opposition teams accuse the ruling Awami League of gross rights abuses like murders and compelled disappearances, and corruption. The federal government has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The US had earlier questioned Bangladesh’s human rights scenario and political inclusiveness. Final 12 months, it slapped visa restrictions on a number of present and former officers of the elite anti-crime Fast Motion Battalion (RAB) on prices of alleged extra-judicial killings.

Prime Minister Hasina had sternly criticised the US motion, saying she believed America didn’t need her authorities to stay in energy.

She had additionally hinted that the US wished army entry to St Martin’s Island within the Bay of Bengal, an allegation denied by the State Division.

Friday’s growth got here a day after the European Union (EU) mentioned it will not deploy a full election observer workforce to Bangladesh, citing a scarcity of “crucial circumstances”.

EU ambassador Charles Whiteley on Thursday mentioned the bloc wouldn’t deploy a “fully-fledged” observer mission. Whereas the EU took under consideration finances constraints, it mentioned the choice additionally “displays the truth that at the moment, it isn’t sufficiently clear whether or not the mandatory circumstances will likely be met”.

The EU is Bangladesh’s largest commerce accomplice. The 27-member bloc is the vacation spot of greater than half of the South Asian nation’s USD 55 billion export merchandise.

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)