MRP stalemate

THE fate of 6 million expatriate workers may be affected because the Malaysian company contracted to deliver machine readable passports (MRPs) has failed to do so. Given that the deadline for these workers to switch to MRPs is November 2015, the rate of issuance which presently stands at 13,000 passports a day will need to double to nearly 22,000, a near impossible task given the existing situation. Even then all our expatriate workers may not get MRPs.

The joint venture agreement between Department of Immigration (DIP) and IRIS states that the latter should provide all necessary documentation by October 30 for system integration with other companies. That has not happened yet. According to the DIP,  IRIS has not only failed in its obligations but has instead blocked the central system with codes thus hampering integration of new passport centres and data access.

It is interesting to note that problems started to occur only after 2012, two years after the Malaysian firm had started its operation, and only after the start of the expansion programme, a programme that it lost its bid to obtain contract of. And disturbingly, it has illegally gained access to the data base at our Malaysian High Commission.

We wonder why the authorities have let things come to such a pass in the first place and seem to have taken no palpable action as yet. There are several crucial issue involved in the matter. Apart from the risk to six million overseas workers, a very important national security matter, the ability of a foreign firm to access millions of personal data of Bangladeshis, seems to have escaped the notice of our authorities.