With the aim of issuing machine readable passports (MRPs)to all Bangladeshi citizens in Oman, the embassy in Muscat has set up mobile units for the purpose, said a senior embassy official.
“The first unit has been deployed in Buraimi today (Friday). It will be in Buraimi for two days and then move to other places. These mobile units will be operational on weekends. This is to help Bangladeshi citizens who stay in the interiors and are unable to access the embassy on working days,” Md Abul Hasan Mridha, counsellor and head of the Chancery at the Bangladesh Embassy, told the Times of Oman.
The Bangladesh government has given itself till the end of 2015 to ensure it issues all its citizens with machine readable passports.
“In Oman, we started the process in 2012, and so far we have issued machine readable passports to 100,000 Bangladeshis. Some, 300,000 already have a new kind of passport issued from Bangladesh itself. For the rest in Oman, we will be able to issue the passports before the deadline,” added the official.
There are around 540,000 Bangladeshis working in Oman, according to government statistics.
“The mobile units will be deployed in Khasab, Salalah, Masirah and Jalan. We will be able to issue passports to each and every Bangladeshi citizen in Oman before the deadline,” asserted the official.
“The mobile unit is capable of issuing 100 passports per day,” he added.
-ToO