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Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh, Karachi

Coordinates: 24°47′35.3″N 67°3′00.4″E / 24.793139°N 67.050111°E / 24.793139; 67.050111
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Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi
করাচিতে বাংলাদেশের ডেপুটি হাইকমিশন (Bengali)
Map
LocationKarachi, Sindh, Pakistan
AddressHouse No. 81/1, Street No. 30, Khayaban-e-Seher, Phase VI, Defence Housing Authority
Coordinates24°47′35.3″N 67°3′00.4″E / 24.793139°N 67.050111°E / 24.793139; 67.050111
Opened24 July 1976
JurisdictionSindh and Balochistan
Deputy High CommissionerS. M. Mahbubul Alam
Websitewww.bddhc-karachi.org

The Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi is a diplomatic mission of Bangladesh in Pakistan. It is located in Phase VI of the Defence Housing Authority in Karachi.[1][2] The presently designated Deputy High Commissioner is S. M. Mahbubul Alam, who was appointed in 2021.[1] The Deputy High Commission reports to the High Commission of Bangladesh in Islamabad.[3]

History

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After Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) seceded from Pakistan in 1971, diplomatic ties between the two nations were not established until February 1974, when Pakistan recognised Bangladesh.[4] On 24 July 1976, the Bangladeshi government inaugurated a Trade Commission office in Karachi, thus establishing its diplomatic presence in the city.[1][3] This closely followed the opening of the Bangladeshi embassy in Islamabad earlier that year.[5] In 1985, the trade office was converted into a full-fledged consulate-general.[3] In 1989, the consulate-general became a Deputy High Commission when Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth as a member state, and has continued to function ever since.[3]

In April 2012, the Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi claimed that his mission had "received threats through emails, messages and letters" warning against a potential tour of the Bangladeshi cricket team to Pakistan, as a result of which the tour had to be called off. The Deputy High Commissioner expressed his disappointment at the tour not going ahead, which apparently soured relations between the Pakistan Cricket Board and Bangladesh Cricket Board.[6]

In October 2014, the Deputy High Commission along with the High Commission in Islamabad were subjected to security threats after Bangladesh passed death sentences against a number of political opposition leaders for their alleged role in the 1971 war, starting with the 2013 execution of Abdul Quader Molla. Pakistan had condemned these death penalties. Pakistani authorities made arrangements to enhance the security of the Bangladeshi missions.[7]

In March 2017, it was reported that around €33,000 had been fraudulently hacked from a bank account belonging to the Bangladeshi embassy in Berlin. The stolen amount was part of funds that were transferred by the Bangladeshi Deputy High Commission in Karachi to Berlin in late 2016, in order to procure a German Mercedes-Benz for the Karachi mission. According to Bangladeshi sources, the personal email account of the Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi had been compromised and used by the hackers, who had deceived the Berlin mission into depositing these funds into a bank account not belonging to Mercedes-Benz. The Bangladesh Bank was directed by the central government to recover the stolen money.[8]

Deputy High Commissioners

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The following is an incomplete list of Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioners, presented in chronological order. S. M. Mahbubul Alam is the currently appointed Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi.[1]

Operations

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The Bangladeshi Deputy High Commission exercises its jurisdiction in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. It offers visa, consular, trade, investment and commerce-related services pertaining to Bangladesh in these regions.[3][13][14] It also promotes economic, cultural and political relations between the two countries.[15][16][17][18] The operating hours of the Deputy High Commission are from 9 am to 5 pm (PST) on weekdays.[1][2] The mission is headed by a Deputy High Commissioner and a subordinate officer, known as the Second Secretary.[19][20]

The Deputy High Commission plays an important role in dealing with cases of immigration.[21][22] There are an estimated 700,000 to 2 million Bengalis in Pakistan, the vast majority of them residing in Karachi.[21] A large number of them are Bangladeshi expatriates who arrived in pursuit of economic opportunities since the 1980s to support their families back home, and they are mainly employed in Karachi's textile and fishery sectors.[21] Others used Pakistan as an overland transit destination while traveling to the Middle East and Europe, but as Pakistan's western borders became tightly controlled over the years, they became stranded in the country.[21] The Deputy High Commission facilitates thousands of Travel Permits (TPs) for those Bangladeshi citizens who wish to return to their country due to lack of employment, family reasons, or due to their irregular visa status, but who face difficulties in doing so either due to a lack of funds or proof of identity requirement.[21] Furthermore, the mission also provides consular access to Bangladeshi detainees imprisoned in Karachi's jails and arranges for their repatriation to Bangladesh.[23][24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Pakistan (Karachi)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh). 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Other Representations in Pakistan". High Commission of Bangladesh in Islamabad. 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Home page". Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi. 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ Riaz, Ali; Rahman, Mohammad Sajjadur (2016). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Bangladesh. Routledge. pp. 384–385. ISBN 9781317308775. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  5. ^ Borders, William (2 February 1976). "Bengalis building tie with Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b "'We received threats over Pakistan tour'". News18. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. Karachi: Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan has claimed that he received threatening emails and messages after his country's cricket board agreed to send its team to play a one-dayer and a Twenty20 match here.
  7. ^ Khan, Naimat (14 November 2014). "Bangladesh diplomatic missions in Pakistan receive threats". The Frontier Post. Sources said that after the high commission of Bangladesh expressed fears of possible attack and threats, Pakistan beefed up security of both High Commission in Islamabad and deputy High Commission in Karachi.
  8. ^ "Muhith seeks BB advice to recover BD diplomat's stolen money". Dhaka Tribune. 14 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. According to the foreign secretary's letter dated January 26, the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi signed a deal with Daimler AG Stuttgart, the company that owns the brand Mercedes-Benz, last year to buy a car for the Karachi mission via the Bangladesh Embassy in Berlin.
  9. ^ Joint Publications Research Service, United States (1992). JPRS Report: Near East & South Asia. Vol. 92004. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. p. 55 – via Google Books. 'The Flesh Trade' includes an interview with Riaz ul Hasan, Deputy Commissioner of the Bangladeshi High Commission in Karachi.
  10. ^ "New Permanent Representative of Bangladesh presents credentials to Director-General of UNOG". UN Geneva. 28 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. Previously, from 2004 to 2006, he had been assigned to Karachi, Pakistan, as Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner.
  11. ^ "Beximco Textile opens fashion outlet 'Yellow' in Pakistan". BEXIMCO. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Pakistan (Karachi)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh). 7 February 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Consular". Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi. 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  14. ^ Ishtiaq, Muhammad (23 May 2019). "No block on visas for Pakistanis, says Dhaka high commission". Arab News Pakistan. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. Bangladesh Mission in Karachi continues to issue visas," the embassy added.
  15. ^ "Bangladesh invites Pakistani investment in export industries". The News. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021. Noor-E-Helal, Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi, gave a detailed presentation on the economic journey of his country.
  16. ^ Hanif, Usman (29 January 2020). "Pakistani group to invest heavily in Bangladesh". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  17. ^ Rafi, Haneen (11 December 2018). "This exhibition of coins and stamps transports the viewer to Bangladesh". Dawn. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2021. An exhibition capturing the political, social, financial and aesthetic essence of Bangladesh was organised by the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, Karachi, at a local hotel on Monday.
  18. ^ "Karachi paralysed after raid on Nine-Zero". The Nation. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. He was talking to media after meeting Bangladeshi Deputy High Commission in Karachi, Noor-e-Hilal Saifur Rahman who called on the Speaker at his chamber. Durrani presented Sindhi Ajrak, cap and shield to Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh. The two discussed issues of bilateral interests during the meeting.
  19. ^ "Officers". Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi. 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Contact Us". Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi. 2020. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  21. ^ a b c d e Karim, Naimul (6 July 2018). "The struggle to return home". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. According to the Deputy High Commission in Karachi, 853 individuals applied for TPs in 2016, 836 in 2017 and 425 in 2018.
  22. ^ Trafficking in Women & Prostitution in the Asia Pacific. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. 1996. p. 54. The consulate, however, refuses to acknowledge them as Bangladeshis since they lack passports to prove their citizenship.
  23. ^ "Repatriation Facilitation for Bangladeshi Detainees in Pakistan". Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Karachi. 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  24. ^ Bhuiyan, Humayun Kabir (23 December 2020). "37 Bangladeshis returning home from Pakistani prisons". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021. The repatriation was made possible due to cooperation from Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Karachi...
  25. ^ Samar, Azeem (23 December 2020). "Pakistan Red Crescent Society facilitates repatriation of 25 Bangladeshi detainees". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021. She thanked the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Karachi for assisting in arranging visas and providing air tickets for repatriation of the nine detainees.
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