Staff Reporter :
In the latest ranking of The Henley and Partners passport index 2018, Bangladeshi passport has dropped by seven notches compared with different other countries in the world.
Bangladesh passport ranked 97 with visa free access in 38 countries in 2018. The country now shares it position with Iran, Lebanon and Cossovo, according to the US-based organisation published this index on February 13.
Japan and Singapore passports are in the most powerful position. Afghanistan has ranked the lowest at 105. The latest index was based on 199 countries, it said.
The Henley and Partners published the latest index with the help of International Air Transport Agency’s (IATA) information.
Afghanistan is the only country whose citizens can visit 24 countries on arrival visas and for that its passport is less valuable. Before Afghanistan the position was secured by Iraq and it is now 104. Iraq’s citizens can visit 24 countries without visa. Syria’s position is 103 and its citizens can visit 28 countries.
From the last, Pakistan has ranked 4 and it scored 102 position. Its citizans can visit 30 countries without visa.
Bangladeshi citizens can visit Sri Lanka, Bahamas, Barbados, Bhutan, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lacedo, Micronesia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu without visa.
Bangladeshi people get on arrival facilities in Nepal, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Samoa, Sisili, East Timor, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Syria.
According to The Henley and Partners, Bangladeshi people can visit five countries without visa. These are four SAARC countries — Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives — and the other is Indonesia.
After Japan and Singapore, Germany secured the second position. The German citizens can visit 179 countries without visa. The third position have been ranked jointly by France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and South Korea. These citizens of these states can travel 178 countries without visa.
The fourth position is secured by the United Kingdom, Portugal, Australia, Norway, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. These countries’ citizens can travel 177 countries without visa.
Canada, Switzerland, Ireland and USA have secured the fifth position, said the US-based organisation.
