Foreign crewmen forced to bribe immigration officials for passes

Foreign shipping crewmen are facing troubles in obtaining passes to get out of Chittagong port as they have refused to meet the illegal demands of some immigration officials.

The shipping agents who work for foreign vessels alleged that some immigration officials at the port demanded “gifts” such as wine, beer, cigarettes, soft drinks or even cash from the masters of ships upon their arrival.

As some masters refused to meet the demand, the immigration officials did not grant them access to the dry land, said Ahsanul Huq Parvez, senior vice chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association.

“It is a violation of rights of the crew. The illegal demand is also damaging the image of the port.”

On July 9, the association sent a written complaint to the additional inspector general of the Special Branch of police in Dhaka informing him about the alleged extortion.

The complaint specifically mentioned the name of Fazlur Rahman Farooqui, a sub-inspector who is in-charge of the immigration department, for engaging in such irregularities. Farooqui denied the allegation.

The letter called for an investigation into the matter and demanded replacement of the officials responsible.

Foreign crew members require passes from the immigration department to leave the vessels to get to the dry land for money exchange, shopping, health check-up or other essential activities.

On average, more than 200 vessels arrive at the port a month.

An executive director of a local shipping agent said the immigration officials did not issue passes to the crewmembers of one of their vessels last month as their demands were not met initially.

The passes were, however, given the following day after their demands were met, he said on condition of anonymity. Parvez said giving small gifts to duty officials of the immigration department has been in practice for long.

But for the last few months, a number of officials, including Farooqui, have been demanding more items before they issue the passes, he added.

Contacted, Farooqui termed the charges against him false.

Since July 4, in line with a recent order from the higher authorities of the Special Branch of police, the immigration department has stopped issuing passes to crewmen who do not submit photographs, he said.

The order came in the wake of the seizure of consignments containing suspected liquid cocaine last month, according to Farooqui.

Harunur Rashid, deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police for Port Zone, said he came to know about the complaint on Tuesday. He said he would open an investigation into the allegation.