Afghanistan|Taliban

Collected Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal spoke to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on drugs and security on Tuesday.

No opportunities for Bangladeshis to go to Afghanistan: Home Minister

Asked about the departure of Bangladeshis to Afghanistan, he said, "It is unreasonable for Bangladeshis to go to Afghanistan. It is not realistic. The government is not worried about the Taliban attack in Afghanistan, because of which there is no threat of militancy in Bangladesh. It is being closely monitored by the intelligence agencies of Bangladesh."

"Afghanistan is a thousand kilometers away from us, and all communication with that country, including air travel, is cut off," he said. "So no one from Bangladesh has a chance to go there."

"Our country is a thousand miles from Afghanistan," he said. "There are two more countries in the middle so it will be difficult to move from there to here. Secondly, we are talking about the people of our country who have an Islamic attitude; They never harbored militancy and extremism, nor did they like it. So what is happening there is their own business. We have a government on what will happen in our country, we are working under the guidance of the Hon'ble Prime Minister."

Asked about the fact that many Bangladeshis have gone there, the minister said, "These are baseless. I think those who are saying, those who are doubting, their suspicions are not correct. Everything is off now. Our air service is off, where we have no means of transportation, then how will thay travel there? Those who are saying may have said without thinking about the reality."

Regarding the sheltering of Afghan refugees, the minister said, "Afghan refugees are one thousand miles away. We are seltering Rohingya refugees, Pakistan refugees. So Afghan refugees are not an issue for us."