Bangladesh’s national passport has been ranked 101 out of 107 in the Henley Passport Index sliding two rank positions further down the ladder.
The Henley Passport Index compiles rankings of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The ranking is composed using data supplied by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information.
Bangladeshi passport holders can access 41 destinations visa-free access or on arrival visa. Besides Indonesia almost all of the other countries are minor states or island nations with liberal visa policies.
It was worse a decade ago with Bangladeshi travelers able to access only 39 destinations. In 10 years access improved to just two countries since 2009.
Countries such as India (85) fared better than Bangladesh however dropped three notches with visa free access to 58 countries. This is surprising given India’s diplomatic clout.
Sri Lanka also ranks higher than Bangladesh coming in at the 100th position however its passport value also dropped four places since last year.
Countries such as Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan unsurprisingly all fared worse than Bangladesh in 2020 as in the previous years.
In 2006 Bangladesh’s passport ranking was in the 68th place and slow dropped slowly with 2020 being the worst year for Bangladeshi passport holders in terms of travel convenience.
If Bangladesh wishes to improve its passport rankings the country’s authorities must improve the atmosphere in the country and perception by outsiders. Authorities must engage with foreign countries to open up their borders for Bangladeshi citizens and at the same time Bangladeshi citizens must ensure they act responsibly when travelling abroad for tourism, work or study purposes.
The Bangladesh government did however implement a high profile ePassport project in partnership with German-firm Veridos in 2018 to enhance physical security as well as quality of Bangladeshi passports under a 12 year contract.
The new passport was launched at a ceremony in Dhaka on 22nd January 2020. Veridos will provide 30 million ICAO-compliant ePassports using technology immune to counterfeiting.
The contract included establishment of a high-level passport production site in Dhaka, including supply and implementation of assembly line, data centre, disaster recovery centre and personification centre.
Veridos also provided state-of-the-art equipment for more than 70 regional passport offices and 80 Bangladesh missions abroad.
Importantly 50 eGates using VeriGO border control platform were built for high traveller frequency and fast verification process.
The project ensured training of local technicians by German specialists and service officials creating new jobs in Bangladesh.
The newly-developed cover for the ePassport is made of a tear-proof textile. It is chemical, sweat and damp-resistant as well as heat-resistant.
Veridos also implemented a security feature with integration of a colour photograph of the passport holder, allowing border officials to verify the person’s identity more precisely.
The chip inside the ePassport stores bio-metric information such as IRIS, face and fingerprints.
The ghost image of the passport holder’s portrait is engraved into a transparent window, which effectively prevents manipulation after issuance and supports rapid optical verification of the ePassport’s authenticity.
In addition, the new ePassport uses MAGIC-ID, an advanced multiple-image technology displaying the Bangladesh flag. Depending on the viewing angle, the flag appears to be waving. This is an extra security feature that can help verify the legitimacy of the passport.
