Provide MRPs to all expats by Nov 24: JS body

The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs today asked the respective ministries to make sure that all the Bangladeshi expatriates are provided with machine readable passports (MRP) within the November 24, 2015 deadline.

The committee did not discuss the Malaysian company’s failure and inefficiency in executing its MRP-related contracts in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE which eventually put about three million expatriates in trouble.

Though they alerted the home ministry about repetition of the mistakes, mismanagement and irregularities that took place regarding MRP issuance for expatriates, a committee member said after the meeting.

“We told the meeting that the officials of the home ministry remain vigil and alert so that the MRP giving process is done within the deadline,” Shamsul Hoque Tuku, ruling party lawmaker and member of the committee, told The Daily Star.

At the start of the meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry Md Mozammel Haq Khan informed the meeting about the latest status of the MRP issuance for expatriates.

He said MRP is being issued from 58 missions of Bangladesh in full swing while in seven missions the job started recently.

His briefing missed out the MRP crisis in Malaysia, UAE and Saudi Arabia where nearly 4.5 million expatriates are staying.

Of them, about 3.5 millions are carrying hand-written passports which would be phased out by the November 24 deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Tipu Munshi, chairman of the committee of the parliamentary watchdog, told the meeting that the expatriates who would not get MRP within the deadline might have no alternative but to return home.

“They may face difficulties while staying in their respective countries or while traveling other countries,” a member said, quoting Tipu Munshi.

The meeting asked both the home and foreign ministries to launch a campaign in different countries to inform the expatriates about the difficulties and the importance of MRP.