Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday urged the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to be “more sensitive” in ensuring hassle-free services to the expatriate Bangladeshis in an expeditious way as over 1 crore people of the country live abroad.

“We expect the DCs to be more sensitive on these issues making things easier,” he told reporters after attending the third-day session of the DCs’ Conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium.

Dr Momen said the expatriate Bangladeshis come with some complaints of not getting passports, police clearances, marriage certificates and birth certificates timely apart from losing control over their land in some cases.

They also complained that they do not get required information when efforts are taken to bring back bodies from abroad, said the Foreign Minister.

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“We (MoFA) don’t give passports or NID. But we collect those and send them abroad. It gets delayed in some cases which make expatriates dissatisfied. In that case, we expect the DCs to be more sensitive so that all kinds of support to expatriates are expedited,” Dr Momen said.

The Foreign Minister urged the DCs to be more sensitive in looking into issues of the elected representatives as they have some commitments to people. “This needs to be done in a coordinated way.”

In some cases, Dr Momen said, the local administration forwards things to Dhaka ignoring their responsibility for what they actually can address locally. As a result, everyone is getting Dhaka-centric. They (DCs) will be aware of this. They’ll solve what they should have done locally.”

On communal harmony, the Foreign Minister said the DCs would have to take a stronger position so that no untoward incident takes place.

Dr Momen said people from different parts of the country go abroad and face difficulties due to irregular migration; and suggested the DCs work and create awareness among all.

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Appreciating the local administrations, the Foreign Minister said the people of the country are grateful to them for providing food and assistance to them by visiting their homes during Covid-19 last year.

Dr Momen said they are very fortunate that 2021 has been very significant for the country and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has implemented many programmes at home and abroad. “As a result, the whole world has praised us for our success.”