The cabinet investigation committee has recommended immigration work to be transferred from Special Branch to immigration and passport department.
On Jun 5, Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ Captain, Fazal Mahmud went to Qatar without a passport. Following this cock up, a probe committee was formed which made 9-10 recommendations.
The probe found that Captain Fazal Mahmud had gone to the airport without his passport. It also suggested immigration formalities to be carried out by manpower employed under the immigration and passport department.
The immigration and passport department, established in 1973, has 1184 personnel, providing passports to Bangladeshis from six offices in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna.
As per International Civil Aviation Authority Guideline, the department has been handing out MRPs since 2010. Till Apr 21, 2019, 24.06 million MRPs (Machine Readable Passport) have been printed along with 1.26 million MRVs (Machine Readable Visas).