The recent hue and cry over travel alerts issued since Eid-ul-Azha by several countries for their citizens staying in Bangladesh have caused panic among the people.
Many local media houses published news on the alerts on their front pages while politicians of both the ruling party and the opposition BNP blasted those governments.
Some ministers said they smell a conspiracy in issuing such alerts following which two foreigners were killed – one in Gulshan of Dhaka and another in Rangpur.
But no one described the meaning of the travel alerts or warnings, and when and why these are published, and the global context.
French Ambassador Sophie Aubert after a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon on Monday said that her country did not issue any travel alert for Bangladesh.
“If I did not feel safe, I would not be here ... I am working like everybody else,” she said.
“If I am in Paris, I will be careful and when I am in Bangladesh, it’s the same. We know that we are not in a peaceful world, there are terrorist everywhere. We adopt our way of living to this risk which is not specific to any country,” she added.
She said this because her country’s terror threat level had been raised to the highest level.
According to the Australian travel alert: “The French domestic terror threat level was raised to the highest level “Alerte – Attentat.”
The Australian government issued an instruction that the Australians should “exercise common sense and look out for suspicious behaviour, as you would in Australia” in France.
For Bangladesh, the Australian travel alert says: “There is a high threat of terrorist attack in Bangladesh and the Australian government issued “exercise a high degree of caution” alert for its citizens in Bangladesh.
According to the British MI5 website, the terror threat is severe when it is level four out of five for the United Kingdom.
“The current threat level for international terrorism for the UK is assessed to be severe,” the website says.
Bangladesh Foreign Ministry officials confirmed that the terror threat for Bangladesh is “moderate, means an attack is possible, but not likely.”
What is travel alert
The United States issues a travel alert for short-term events like an election season that usually sees strikes, demonstrations, or disturbances; a health alert; or evidence of an elevated risk of terrorist attacks.
It also issues travel warnings for countries where it finds any government unstable, civil war, ongoing intense crimes or violence, or frequent terrorist attacks.
When contacted, the US embassy spokesperson in Dhaka said: “The US embassy has a legal obligation to look after the safety of its citizens in Bangladesh, which includes encouraging them to remain vigilant.”
According to the Canadian government website, “Country travel advice and advisories pages provide Canadians with official information and advice from the government of Canada on situations that may affect their safety and well-being abroad. They may include an advisory for a country or region where security conditions put Canadians at heightened risk,” but no such Advisory issued for Bangladesh. More or less all the western countries follow the same pattern.
Travel alert by US
The United States has not issued the travel alert for Bangladesh only. It issued the alert or warning for over 40 countries including Nepal, Myanmar, Mexico, Pakistan and even its key ally Saudi Arabia.
The US embassy in Dhaka issued several security messages for its citizens to remain vigilant.
“With respect to the security notices issued this weekend, the intent was to encourage US citizens to continue to exercise caution. These notices were based on the original existing threat information and do not indicate a new threat,” said the US embassy spokesperson.
“The notices were also aimed at informing our citizens about the government of Bangladesh’s efforts to identify foreigners in the country in order to be better prepared to protect them. The US embassy has a legal obligation to look after the safety of US citizens in Bangladesh, which includes encouraging US citizens to remain vigilant,” the official said.
Travel alert by UK
The British government has issued travel alert saying: “There is a high threat from terrorism. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the recent murders of two foreign nationals [in Dhaka]. Further attacks targeting westerners may occur and could be indiscriminate.”
The UK also issued “high threat from terrorism” alert for many countries including Australia, Belgium, Myanmar, France, India, Pakistan, Russia and Thailand.
Travel alert by Australia
The Australian government has advised its citizen to “exercise a high degree of caution” during their stay in Bangladesh. This advice was last issued on October 4.
“A Japanese national was shot and killed in Rangpur on 3 October. There are reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for this attack, although this is yet to be confirmed,” the Australian advice said.
Australia also issued “exercise a high degree of caution” advice for Myanmar, India, Russia, Thailand and other countries. For Pakistan and some other countries, it issued “reconsider your need to travel.”
Controversy
The controversy surfaced recently not for issuing the travel alerts but regarding the timing of the issuance.
Australia issued the first travel alert in the afternoon of September 25, the Eid day, saying that it had “reliable information” about possible attacks on Australian interests.
Many diplomats and relevant stakeholders said that the reliable information was not gathered by the Australian intelligence, rather it was supplied to them by another country.
But, most interestingly, that country did not issue travel alert until the murder of the two foreigners.
When Australian High Commissioner Greg Wilcock went to Bangabhaban to greet President Abdul Hamid on the Eid day morning, he did not give any hint to the Bangladesh officials present there.
One government official, who was present at the event, said: “He [the Australian envoy] did not give any indication to Bangladeshi officials that something will happen after couple of hours. Apparently, he was not aware of it [issuance of travel alert].”
The official said had it not been issued by Australia, it would not have any impact on Bangladesh.
“The travel alert got importance only because of the visit of the Australian cricket team to Dhaka,” he said.
The Australian cricketers were supposed to come to Dhaka to play Test matches on September 28.
Similarly, a day after the killing of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella on September 28, European Union Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon issued a press release terming it a “terrorist crime.”
“Ambassador Mayaudon condemns this terrorist crime in the strongest possible terms and urges the law enforcement agencies to promptly investigate this barbaric aggression and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said in the statement.
But, interestingly, the European Union Headquarters issued another press release the same day but did not mention anything about “terrorism.”
“We are deeply saddened by the news of the murder yesterday in Dhaka of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella, employed by the Netherlands-based NGO ICCO. Our thoughts are with Tavella’s family, friends and colleagues as well as with the Italian authorities, to all of whom we convey our deepest condolences.
“Those responsible for this act must be brought to justice. Tavella was working in Bangladesh to improve the lives of local citizens. We will stand firm in upholding the values of solidarity and life,” it concluded.