[ALOCHONA] Bangladesh intends to discriminate against persons of Bangladeshi orgin

The Bangladesh government has issued a draft Right to Information Ordinance (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bafi/files/ for Bangla and English versions) for comments. Noticeable  in the draft Ordinance is the fact that foreign students, researchers, social workers, investors, tourists, and Bangladeshis with foreign nationality would never benefit from the proposed Bangladesh Right to Information Ordinance.  Why?  Because they are not "citizens," and are therefore not eligible to submit Right to Information requests.

 

The exclusion of non-citizens was never the intention of the original Right to Information movement.  It should be noted that the U.S. Freedom of Information Act of 1966 provided the original model for the Right to Information Act and its various manifestations around the globe, including the UK Right to Information Act of 2000 and the Indian Right to Information Act of 2005, which serves as the basis for the Bangladesh Draft Ordinance of 2008. 

 

Indeed, in the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, any "person"—whether they are a citizen or not—may request information from the U.S. Government through a formal request process identical to the process proposed by the Government of Bangladesh.  The openness of the US FOIA Act allows foreign visitors, investors, activists, refugees, residency permit holders and many other non-citizens to seek information from the U.S. Government.  This is justice and fairness to all.

 

But under the Right to Information Acts later drawn up in other countries like India, the coverage of the Right to Information was arbitrarily restricted to only "citizens," under the bogus argument that non-citizens did not also have legitimate reasons to seek information from their host government.  Since Bangladesh has adopted the language of the Indian Right to Information Act, the restriction to "citizens" has been carried forward. 

 

Thus, we have reached the position where a Bangladeshi can request information from the U.S. Government under the Freedom of Information Act, but an American-born Bangladeshi cannot request information from the Bangladesh Government under the proposed Right to Information Ordinance!

 

There are many other types of non-citizens who would not benefit from the Right to Information.  Examples include: (1) A foreign student at a Bangladeshi university, (2) a foreign businessman who is investing in Bangladesh, (3) a refugee from another nation provided refugee status, (4) A foreign tourist staying in Bangladesh, (5) a Bangladeshi national from abroad who cannot establish his/her citizenship for lack of papers, (6) a foreign-born Bangladeshi holding foreign citizenship (ex. in US or UK) who is returning to the homeland for work or family reasons, (7) a foreign employee or volunteer with an NGO inside Bangladesh, (8) foreign researchers working in Bangladesh. 

 

Under the US Freedom of Information Act, all of these people would be free to seek information from the US Government.  But under the proposed Bangladesh Right to Information Ordinance, none of these categories of "foreigners" would be allowed to seek information from their own host Government.  Is this fair?  Is this just?  Are these people not hosted by the Government of Bangladesh?  Do they not make substantial investments, pay taxes, duties, and fees to the Government of Bangladesh?  Are they not contributing to the well-being of Bangladesh through their business, their research, their volunteering?  If all of the above is true, then how can their host government deny them a universal right such as the right to information? Indeed, the restriction of the Right to Information to citizens is unfair and unjust, and should be reversed. 

 

If you agree with this, write to the Law Adviser and ask that the spirit of the original Freedom of Information Act of 1966 by restored by the usage of the word "person" in Section 4(a) of the Draft Ordinance.  This would truly establish the Right to Information for all people in Bangladesh.

 

[Grateful to Dr. Paul La Porte of University of Chicago for raising this issue and the content of this email. Please review other aspects of this Ordinance and offer your valuable advice. Badrul Haque]

 

---

How well do you know your celebrity gossip? Talk celebrity smackdowns here. __._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___