Human trafficking, instability erode global trust in Bangladesh’s passports

Bangladesh’s global mobility and international standing have suffered a sharp blow over the past year, with its passport ranking plunging to one of the weakest in the world amid reports of visa restrictions, deportations and rising global distrust.

According to the 2025 Henley Passport Index, released on 14 October by UK-based Henley & Partners, Bangladesh now ranks 100th out of 106 countries, leaving its passports the seventh weakest globally.

Bangladesh shares this position with North Korea while Palestine ranks one spot higher at 99th.

Bangladeshi citizens currently enjoy visa-free access to only 38 countries, a figure many travelers dispute due to growing incidents of denial and enhanced scrutiny even at ‘visa-free’ destinations.

A passport’s strength depends on various factors such as a nation’s economic and social Condition and development, job prospects, diplomatic engagement, visa agreements, cultural or historical connections and patterns of irregular migration.

Visa Restrictions and Diplomatic Strains

Experts attribute the decline to governance failures, human trafficking scandals, and strained diplomatic relations since the student-led ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.

Relations with India, Bangladesh’s largest travel destination, deteriorated sharply after the change.

India closed all visa centers across Bangladesh on 5 August 2024, citing ‘security concerns’, though limited medical and student visa services later resumed.

Sri Lanka has made pre-arrival Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) mandatory while Saudi Arabia suspended work visas for Bangladeshis and 13 other nations in May 2025.

Denmark and several Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, have also tightened visa processes for Bangladeshi applicants.

Travelers report longer verification times, higher rejection rates and even offloading at immigration checkpoints despite holding valid visas.

Crisis Deeping

The recent wave of deportations of undocumented Bangladeshis has worsened the country’s passport crisis.

On 8 September, Kyrgyzstan deported 180 unregistered Bangladeshis who fell victims to fraud while the US sent back 30 earlier that month.

Between January 2024 and September 2025, at least 187 Bangladeshis were deported from the US.

In late September, another 52 Bangladeshis were deported from Italy, Austria, Greece, and Cyprus, and on 30 August, the UK deported 15 for immigration violations, according to media reports.

Malaysia also sent back 98 Bangladeshis on 15 August following earlier deportations of 204 others.

Human Trafficking Undermining Trust

Analysts say these failures, combined with the surge in irregular migration and human trafficking, have directly contributed to Bangladesh’s passport devaluation and declining credibility abroad.

The 2025 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report again placed Bangladesh in Tier 2, noting limited progress in combating trafficking.

The report documented 3,410 Bangladeshi victims last year, 765 in sex trafficking, 2,572 in forced labour, and 73 in other forms of exploitation while government figures acknowledged only 1,462 victims.

Besides, the law-and-order situation has sharply deteriorated since mid-2024.

According to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), 179 people were killed in mob attacks between August, 2024 and June, 2025, including several cases that shocked the nation including the lynching of two men in Rangpur’s Taraganj on 9 August.

At an event in July at the Foreign Service Academy, Asif Nazrul, Expatriates’ Welfare Adviser Asif Nazrul said that despite holding a red official passport, he still faced suspicious looks abroad simply for being Bangladeshi.

He added that when he used a regular green passport, the challenges were ‘far worse’.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain, speaking at the same event, admitted that Bangladeshis often face harassment overseas, saying the passport’s declining value is partly the nation’s own responsibility, not just that of foreign authorities.