HC orders listing of illegal foreign jobholders

On a petition that US$10 billion is taken way from Bangladesh by unauthorized foreigners annually, the High Court Tuesday ordered the listing of legal and illegal foreign jobholders here through thorough investigations.
Also, the court asked the Inspector General of Police and other respondents to submit the list in due time.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice S M Masud Hossain Dolon passed the orders after hearing a writ petition filed by aggrieved persons who suffer from underemployment.
The High Court bench issued a rule to this effect upon the relevant bodies of the government to explain as to why their "inaction and failure to take appropriate legal action against illegal foreigners, including unauthorized foreign workers, in Bangladesh shall not be declared illegal".
In the rule it also wants to know as to why the respondents "shall not be directed to ensure all appropriate legal actions against illegal foreigners, including unauthorized foreign workers, as per the provisions of laws".
Finance Secretary, Foreign Affairs Secretary, Home Secretary, Bangladesh Bank Governor, ACC Chairman, NBR Chairman, IGP, and Additional IGP (CID) have been made respondents in the petition.
Mir Muahtasim Islam, a graduate of Naval Architecture from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and three others, who have been suffering from unemployment in commensuration to their academic background, filed the writ petition recently.
Barrister M Sarwar Hossain appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioners while Deputy Attorney-General Tushar Kanti Roy represented the state.
Barrister Hossain told the FE correspondent that the HC bench didn't mention the timeframe for submitting the list. However, it will not be less than three to six months as "it's a big task".
According to the writ petition, around US$10 billion is taken away from Bangladesh every year by illegal foreign workers and the respondents have failed to take appropriate legal action against such "siphoning of ill-gotten money".
Respondents "should take all appropriate legal actions against illegal foreigners and unauthorized foreign workers as per the provisions of laws," the court ruling says.
It mentions the provisions of the Foreigners Act 1946, the Control of Entry Act 1952, the Foreign Exchange Registration Act 1947 and the Money Laundering Act 2012 for taking the actions.

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