The red passports of ministers and MPs are being cancelled

The government has decided to cancel the diplomatic passports (red passports) allotted to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and all the ministers-MPs of her government. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that the process of taking necessary steps in this regard has already started.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Security Services. Moshiur Rahman told the media, 'We have already given instructions to the Directorate of Immigration and Passports (DIP) in this regard. DIP has already started the process and hopefully the order will be issued soon.'

Members of Parliament as well as their family members also carry diplomatic passports. Regarding the cancellation of passports of MPs' family members, the senior secretary said, 'Since we are canceling the diplomatic passports of the primary passport holders, the passports of their family members will automatically be cancelled.'

Md. Moshiur Rahman said, 'If someone (a diplomatic passport holder) wants to get a new passport, he must first submit the diplomatic or red passport and then a normal passport will be issued as per the law.'

It is learned that once the red passports are cancelled, former ministers and MPs who have criminal cases or have been arrested may have to go through the legal process to get normal passports. In that case, they can apply for a normal passport only after getting a court order.