Staff Reporter: The United Kingdom is removing Bangladesh from the red list of travel bans after five months due to a reduction in coronavirus infections, creating an opportunity for Bangladeshis to return to the UK.
The new travel rules, announced by British Transport Minister Grant Shaps on Friday, call for the removal of a total of eight countries, including Bangladesh, from the high-risk ‘red list’. The other seven countries are Turkey, Pakistan, Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Oman.
The new rules will take effect on September 22 at 4 am local time in England. This new policy only applies to England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will adjust their policies, according to a Reuters report.
The British government divided the countries of the world by listing the three colors – red, amber, and green – to control travel during the epidemic. Under the new rules, 54 countries will be on the red list after September 22. Freed from this list, eight countries will go to the amber list. From October, there will be no more Amber List. Everything else is green outside the red list.
In other words, foreigners from the 54 countries on the red list will still not be able to go to England. If a British citizen returns to the country from those countries, he has to follow the rules of 10 days quarantine.
And there will be no barriers to going to England from the green list countries. From September 22, there is no obligation to test Covid before going there from any country on the green list. Once there, they will be able to get tested.
An official of the Bangladesh High Commission in Britain said they had been informed by the British Foreign Office that Bangladesh would remain on the amber list until October 4.
“Bangladeshis and British-Bangladeshis will be able to travel to England from 4 am on September 22. But you have to stay in the home quarantine for 10 days while you are on the amber list. ”
Passengers receiving two doses of the vaccine will also be required to undergo a PCR test after landing in England in October. Then they have to do a relatively cheap lateral flow test. However, those who have not been vaccinated in two doses will have to undergo a PCR test.
In the second wave of coronavirus infection, on April 9, the United Kingdom put Bangladesh on the red list of high-risk countries. As a result, no Bangladeshi citizen had the opportunity to go there from Bangladesh.
In this situation, about seven thousand British-Bangladeshis were trapped, and it was called to remove the name of Bangladesh from the red list.
In a bilateral meeting with the outgoing British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on September 6, Foreign Minister Momen requested that Bangladesh be removed from the Red List.
He called the decision to keep Bangladesh on the sanctions list “discriminatory” despite the reduction in coronavirus infections.
Thanking the British government for announcing the easing of sanctions on Friday, Foreign Minister Momen said in a video message, “I am very happy to announce that today the British government has brought Bangladesh from the Red List to Amber. Many thanks and gratitude to the British government for that. ”
