BANGLADESH AND FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
Sixteen years after Ershad"s dramatic fall, Bangladesh is a very different country. Democracy for last 15 years has made little change to this country. Now a military-backed government is again ruling it.
The new government has denied entry to its ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who went abroad. It is rumored that the government also lodged corruption cases against the sons of immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and now putting pressure and cutting deals for her exile to Saudi.
In today"s Bangladesh human right and rule of law are being compromised.
Freedom of movement is one of the most basic human rights. It is an indispensable condition for the free development of a person.
The right to free movement, or the denial of it, within national and international borders can have profound effects upon other basic human rights also outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other treaties.
Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulate:
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country.
Thus, while free movement may seem on the surface to be a fairly minor and obvious human right, it actually is one of the most basic rights that in many nations around the world, when violated, cause numerous problems.
As long as the state is possessed with the vast powers which it has today and which has no regard for international conventions and public opinion, the thought of having to live with the current situation is terrifying. It is frightful to live in a state in which at every turn one is exposed to persecution under the guise of justice and anti-corruption move by the authorities.
The world is becoming smaller and smaller. I think a crisis in one part of the world is essentially a global crisis. I feel that the international community should have a genuine sense of universal responsibility to solve this issue.
