The Bangladesh Association of Southern Africa (BASA) has called for immediate intervention by the interim government to address the issues faced by nearly 300,000 Bangladeshi expatriates working in South Africa and other Southern African countries.
They demanded free repatriation of deceased expatriates to Bangladesh and an end to passenger harassment at Dhaka Airport. On behalf of the organisation, its founder Amjad Hossain Choyon, on Thursday, met with the Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain, and submitted a memorandum of demands at the advisor's office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a press release issued by Amjad Hossain Choyon.
The key demands highlighted in the memorandum include free repatriation of deceased expatriates' bodies to Bangladesh and adequate compensation for the affected families, introduction of e-passport services, reduction of passport issuance and renewal fees, improved service quality at Bangladeshi embassies, recruitment of administrative officers from the expatriate community to expedite consular services, elimination of syndicates and brokers from embassy operations, reduction in airfare for flights to and from Bangladesh, establishment of consular services in Southern African countries where Bangladeshi embassies are absent, cessation of harassment and mistreatment of expatriate passengers at Dhaka Airport, and expedited bilateral diplomatic efforts to establish a South African embassy in Bangladesh.
The BASA also emphasised that addressing these issues would significantly improve the well-being of Bangladeshi expatriates and strengthen Bangladesh's diplomatic relations in the Southern African region.
