Birth registration certificates with photographs on the cards

The home ministry has asked the local government and rural development (LGRD) ministry to take steps to issue birth registration certificates with the photograph of the applicant, to stop use of fake certificates by Rohingyas. The secretary of the Security Service Division of the home ministry sent a letter to the secretary of the LGRD ministry recently, asking it to include the photograph of the applicant in the birth registration certificate, sources in the LGRD ministry said. In the letter, the secretary of the security service division, Md Shahiduzzaman, quoting intelligence and inquiry reports, said a number of Rohingyas were making machine readable passports (MRPs) by managing to get birth registration certificates, in collusion with a section of dishonest staff of the offices concerned.

“It is also alleged that a person was taking more than one birth registration certificate and making more than one passport using the certificate, which is now a matter of concern for the government,” the letter said. In the letter, the secretary advised the LGRD secretary to take steps to issue birth certificate with the photograph of the applicant for an adult person. Photographs of the parents would be included in the birth certificate for children, which will end the possibility of more than one passport for a person.

When contacted, a senior official of the LGRD ministry told The Independent that they will take cognisance of the matter and a decision would be taken after the LGRD secretary returns from abroad.

“We need to hold an inter-ministerial meeting on the matter before taking a decision,” he said.

Earlier, the LRGD minister, Md Tajul Islam, told this correspondent that they will take any decision to stop issuing of more than one birth certificate for a person and passport for Rohingyas using the birth certificate.

"We have warned all the UP chairmen not to issue birth and nationality certificates without confirming their identities to help stop issuance of MRPs to Rohingyas,” he said.

In August, the government suspended two union parishad (UP) chairmen for providing birth and nationality certificates to Rohingyas.

Sources said after arranging birth and national certificates by spending a large amount of money, Rohingyas were making MRPs as Bangladeshi citizens and going abroad, especially Middle East countries and Malaysia.

A senior official of the security service division of the home ministry told this correspondent that they have detected a number of MRPs, issued to Rohingyas, through intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

“We have already asked the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) to cancel the passports immediately and identify the employees who helped to issue the passports to Rohingyas,” he added.

Sources said the authorities have detected a number of MRPs, including a Rohingya leader Md Yunus Arman, who has an MRP No. BY 0512244 and national

identity (NID) No. 19951517043042700.

There are many other Rohingyas who have NIDs and MRPs, arranged through a section of corrupt officials of DIP, police and local public representatives, like UP chairmen and ward councillors, taking a large amount of

money.

A Rohingya woman, Noor Khaba, has a birth certificate No. 19992219079000300 and is also a voter (No 221855000494). Rohingya Shamsul Alam has MRP No. PPBR0442209, Md Iqbal Chowdhury’s MRP No. is BR 0442209, Md Abdullah’s MRP No. is EA 0034081 and Mohammad Yeaser’s birth certificate No. is 20181591625116588 and Md Ezhar Hossain has birth certificate No. 19901592037000610.

Of the Rohingyas, the correspondent spoke to Md Yunus Arman, who has an MRP No. BY 0512244.

Already intelligence agencies have identified some union parishad chairmen, chairmen and ward councillors of upazila parishads who issued a number of birth and national certificates to Rohingyas taking a large amount of money.

The police and other law enforcement agencies and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained a number of Rogingyas who were trying to leave the country by using Bangladeshi passports on January 10.

A Dhaka court yesterday sent 13 Rohingyas to jail on charges of acquiring Bangladeshi passports through forgery. Sources in DIP said they have cancelled a number of passports, including passport number EA 0306758, which was issued to a Rohingya woman Ayesha, passport No EA 03740381 issued for Minara Begum and EA 01962747 for Daliya Nasrin

Liza.

In some cases, it is difficult to identify whether the applicants are local or Rohingyas as so many Rohingyas have entered the country since long, and collected NID, birth certificate and certificates from local councillors or chairmen and they also adopted Bangla language fully,” the sources

added.

An assistant director of DIP told The Independent that they have arrested the Rohingya women and their tout for their suspicious behaviour and handed them over to the police.

“Yes, some dalals are helping to make passports, but there is no activity of dalals in the passport office as we have arrested some dalals,” he said.

“We are closely watching our staff to prevent any unethical activity after getting instructions from the head office of the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP),” he added.

According to sources in the expatriate and overseas employment ministry, a number of Rohingyas were working as Bangladesh citizens in different countries, especially in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, and also Malaysia, using Bangladeshi passports.

In 2018, former expatriates’ welfare minister Nurul Islam had said that about 2,50,000 Rohingyas had gone abroad with Bangladeshi passports.

At present, over 11 lakh, including some 7,00,000 Rohingyas, have been staying in different camps in Cox’s Bazar since August 25 last year.

They fled the Rakhaine state of Myanmar after a military crackdown, which the United Nations, the US and others have called “ethnic

cleansing”.

 

Birth registration certificates with photographs on the cards

The home ministry has asked the local government and rural development (LGRD) ministry to take steps to issue birth registration certificates with the photograph of the applicant, to stop use of fake certificates by Rohingyas. The secretary of the Security Service Division of the home ministry sent a letter to the secretary of the LGRD ministry recently, asking it to include the photograph of the applicant in the birth registration certificate, sources in the LGRD ministry said. In the letter, the secretary of the security service division, Md Shahiduzzaman, quoting intelligence and inquiry reports, said a number of Rohingyas were making machine readable passports (MRPs) by managing to get birth registration certificates, in collusion with a section of dishonest staff of the offices concerned. It is also alleged that a person was taking more than one birth registration certificate and making more than one passport using the certificate, which is now a matter of concern for the government, the letter said. In the letter, the secretary advised the LGRD secretary to take steps to issue birth certificate with the photograph of the applicant for an adult person. Photographs of the parents would be included in the birth certificate for children, which will end the possibility of more than one passport for a person. When contacted, a senior official of the LGRD ministry told The Independent that they will take cognisance of the matter and a decision would be taken after the LGRD secretary returns from abroad. We need to hold an inter-ministerial meeting on the matter before taking a decision, he said. Earlier, the LRGD minister, Md Tajul Islam, told this correspondent that they will take any decision to stop issuing of more than one birth certificate for a person and passport for Rohingyas using the birth certificate. We have warned all the UP chairmen not to issue birth and nationality certificates without confirming their identities to help stop issuance of MRPs to Rohingyas, he said. In August, the government suspended two union parishad (UP) chairmen for providing birth and nationality certificates to Rohingyas. Sources said after arranging birth and national certificates by spending a large amount of money, Rohingyas were making MRPs as Bangladeshi citizens and going abroad, especially Middle East countries and Malaysia. A senior official of the security service division of the home ministry told this correspondent that they have detected a number of MRPs, issued to Rohingyas, through intelligence and law enforcement agencies. We have already asked the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) to cancel the passports immediately and identify the employees who helped to issue the passports to Rohingyas, he added. Sources said the authorities have detected a number of MRPs, including a Rohingya leader Md Yunus Arman, who has an MRP No. BY 0512244 and national identity (NID) No. 19951517043042700. There are many other Rohingyas who have NIDs and MRPs, arranged through a section of corrupt officials of DIP, police and local public representatives, like UP chairmen and ward councillors, taking a large amount of money. A Rohingya woman, Noor Khaba, has a birth certificate No. 19992219079000300 and is also a voter (No 221855000494). Rohingya Shamsul Alam has MRP No. PPBR0442209, Md Iqbal Chowdhurys MRP No. is BR 0442209, Md Abdullahs MRP No. is EA 0034081 and Mohammad Yeasers birth certificate No. is 20181591625116588 and Md Ezhar Hossain has birth certificate No. 19901592037000610. Of the Rohingyas, the correspondent spoke to Md Yunus Arman, who has an MRP No. BY 0512244. Already intelligence agencies have identified some union parishad chairmen, chairmen and ward councillors of upazila parishads who issued a number of birth and national certificates to Rohingyas taking a large amount of money. The police and other law enforcement agencies and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained a number of Rogingyas who were trying to leave the country by using Bangladeshi passports on January 10. A Dhaka court yesterday sent 13 Rohingyas to jail on charges of acquiring Bangladeshi passports through forgery. Sources in DIP said they have cancelled a number of passports, including passport number EA 0306758, which was issued to a Rohingya woman Ayesha, passport No EA 03740381 issued for Minara Begum and EA 01962747 for Daliya Nasrin Liza. In some cases, it is difficult to identify whether the applicants are local or Rohingyas as so many Rohingyas have entered the country since long, and collected NID, birth certificate and certificates from local councillors or chairmen and they also adopted Bangla language fully, the sources added. An assistant director of DIP told The Independent that they have arrested the Rohingya women and their tout for their suspicious behaviour and handed them over to the police. Yes, some dalals are helping to make passports, but there is no activity of dalals in the passport office as we have arrested some dalals, he said. We are closely watching our staff to prevent any unethical activity after getting instructions from the head office of the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP), he added. According to sources in the expatriate and overseas employment ministry, a number of Rohingyas were working as Bangladesh citizens in different countries, especially in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, and also Malaysia, using Bangladeshi passports. In 2018, former expatriates welfare minister Nurul Islam had said that about 2,50,000 Rohingyas had gone abroad with Bangladeshi passports. At present, over 11 lakh, including some 7,00,000 Rohingyas, have been staying in different camps in Coxs Bazar since August 25 last year. They fled the Rakhaine state of Myanmar after a military crackdown, which the United Nations, the US and others have called ethnic cleansing.