US visa restrictions: Stakeholders raise concerns about potential far-reaching impact

Anisur Rahman Khan with Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :

The government has downplayed the US visa restrictions as internal interference with limited implications, but there is a growing sense of apprehension among government officials, members of law enforcing agencies, the business community, and the banking sector that are raising concerns about its potential far-reaching impact.

So far the government has not provided a comprehensive plan to mitigate potential economic fallout due to such restriction and if measures are also undertaken by the US allies including Canada, European Union, Australia how the government would manage it.

The government officials, the business leaders and the bankers are not only concerned about the potential immediate impact on their trade operations and remittance inflow but are also worried about the broader ramifications out of visa restrictions.

They said that the visa restrictions should not be thought at individual level, rather it should be taken in a collective way how Bangladesh will carry on its trade and business if concerned stakeholders face restrictions.

Even they said that many of the government and the non-government officials would fear to take part in election duty when such US measures will be on everyone’s head.

The visa restriction is imposed when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in the US for attending the UN General Assembly.

Right after such announcement she expressed her discontent with the visa restrictions and questioned their justification.

“I would like to say that the attempt to thwart the election should not be made from outside the country,” she said at a meeting in the US. She also said if it is spoiled (the election) from outside the country, the people of Bangladesh will also impose sanctions.

She further said, “It does not matter who has imposed visa restrictions.

My son is also in the US. He is doing business here. He has married here.

He has assets here too. If they cancel it, it won’t affect much. We still have Bangladesh.”

Even, the outgoing Chief Justice, Hasan Foez Siddiqui, recently said that he never visited the US and he will not visit US in future either. He further said, “We are not concerned over the US visa policy”.

Meanwhile, sources said that the business leaders are closely thinking about their business in the upcoming days with the US and EU countries, the major destinations of Bangladeshi products, amid the visa restrictions.

They said that as Bangladesh’s economy depends heavily on
exporting goods to Western countries and importing essential raw materials from them, any disruptions will have far-reaching consequences.

With uncertainty looming large, there are growing calls for clarity from the government regarding its strategy to address the visa restrictions.

Many are urging the government to formulate contingency plans to safeguard the country’s economic interests in the face of mounting challenges.

Despite the government’s optimism, top officials in the Secretariat, speaking on condition of anonymity, have voiced ominous apprehensions due to the visa restrictions.

They emphasised the need to view the situation collectively rather than at an individual level.

They told these correspondents that the entire situation of the country – be it service sector or in political landscape – has been perturbed after the announcement of the US visa restrictions.

They said if the government thinks that it would only affect certain individuals for undermining the electoral process, if they are implicated in manipulation, it would ultimately tarnish the image of the country before the world community.

They also said that the individuals who will be deployed in the election duty will always be in of visa restriction as it may affect their relatives who are living in the US, the European Countries and Canada.

A number of government officials said that many government officials will refrain from election duty as measures were not in the last two parliamentary elections.

They observed that the country is already under severe economic strain due to depletion of reserves and the businessmen are failing to open LCs while the graph of business trade is continuing to fall down.

Talking to a number of bank high officials, they said that banking sector is already gasping for liquidity crisis as the bigger conglomerates have taken thousands of crores of taka as loans and the repayment is not at all satisfactory.

The Bangladesh Bank is taking a number of stopgap solutions to invigorate the health of the foreign currency, but it is not showing a bright path in the coming days.

The remittance inflow, one of the major channel to revive the reserve, is falling down, which is ‘ominous’, they said.

Pointing to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), of which Bangladesh is a member, they said that it is now facing US restrictions on transactions among member states.

This development means that Bangladesh will need to conduct direct transactions for imports from ACU member countries, including India, without the option of deferred payments, they said.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the US Department of The Treasury, recently issued directives to banks not to process payments linked to the ACU mechanism.

This development has set off alarm bells in Bangladesh’s business community as the country faces the prospect of losing the flexibility to settle deferred import payments, a significant component of its trade activities.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen recently told the media, “There may be a fear or apprehension among government employees or those in higher social strata because their sons and daughters are abroad.

Many of them have accumulated wealth through dubious means while residing abroad.

They may have a fear that if their visas are not granted, they will need to think about how to take care of their homes.”

However, the concerned stakeholders said that as the extent of the visa restriction cannot be guessed right now, they have urged that the government should think at the collective level, rather than the individual level.

The US on September 22 imposed the visa restrictions stating that it would be imposed on Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process.

These individuals include members of law enforcement, the ruling party, and the political opposition.

It reflects the continued commitment of the United States to supporting Bangladesh’s goal of peacefully holding free and fair national elections, and to support those seeking to advance democracy globally.