Noman Mosharef :
Issuing fake certificates over coronavirus tests in the country has tarnished the image of Bangladesh around the globe.
In the wake of certificate scam, several countries have imposed restriction on the arrival of Bangladeshi flights to those countries.
Italy on July 8 denied entry of around 151 Bangladeshi passengers — on board a transit flight of Qatar Airways — into the country and sent them back to Dhaka.
Effective from July 8 and valid till October 5, passengers are not allowed to travel to Italy from Bangladesh.
Earlier on July 7, the Italian government imposed restriction for a week after a significant number of passengers of a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines tested positive for Covid-19 after they landed at the Airport in Rome on July 6.
The passengers had documents certifying that they had tested negative for Covid-19 and were safe to travel.
The experts said, Bangladesh doesn’t take Corona pandemic seriously while rest of the world was serious to tackle the deadly virus. The fake certificates are sold for money. The negative and positive certificates are issued without test. Some of Bangladeshi citizens have been arrested in other countries with fake Corona certificates. According to news published in various newspapers in the country, Bangladeshi people are facing entry restriction beyond. Italy, the European country on July 8 put restriction on entry of passengers from Bangladesh into its territory. Malaysia has arrested seven Bangladeshi on charge of Corona certificate forgery. Seventeen Bangladeshis tested Corona positive in a Dhaka-Guangzhou flight, having corona negative certificates before. In April four Bangladeshis tested positive in Japan bound flight. As a result Japan has imposed conditions to operate commercial flights from Bangladesh. So, Bangladeshi could not enter Japan afterward. Six Bangladeshis and a Korean citizen tested positive on a Korean bound chartered flight. Korea also restricted Bangladeshi entry in Korea on June 21.
Due to coronavirus pandemic Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India and Europe have banned entry of Bangladeshi citizens to those countries.
Aviation expert Asis Roy Chowdhury said, we are solely responsible for the situation. We are disgraceful to entire world. Our reputation lost. We have been addressed as a fake corona certificate holder country. Without getting trust, Bangladesh would have faced difficulty to operate aviation worldwide. A large number of migrant workers will become jobless.
Asis Chowdhury said those who were involved with the fake Corona certificates must be booked and government should inflict strict punishment on them. Otherwise, other countries may impose restriction on Bangladesh flights.
Another Aviation expert Kazi Wahid Alam said, ‘The issue needs to be resolved diplomatically. As the number of corona is increasing in Bangladesh, other countries are keeping a close eye on Bangladesh. When an airport gets the Corona negative of our citizens then their trust in our country will be built.
The Aviation expert further said, the most important thing is that if the government is not strict, the Aviation sector will be destroyed.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Chairman Air-Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said, I strongly condemn this incident. It’s a shame for us. Italy has banned Bangladeshis from entering. There is no doubt that we are disgraced by Italy’s decision. “
