Malaysia eases transit rules for Bangladeshis

Bangladeshi tourists under group tour package can now enjoy transit facilities up to five days in Malaysia without having visas of the country, following some terms and conditions.
The Southeast Asian country has made the facility effective from July 15 this year, which is also applicable for Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan nationals to boost tourism, an official statement of Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka said yesterday.
However, to avail the facility, tourists have to confirm their return air tickets and possess valid visit visas of any of the seven countries--Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA.
After the Malaysian government scrapped the tourist-friendly visa programme in 2008 in a bid to curb illegal immigration, visitors from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka earlier had to obtain visas before entering Malaysia.
The visitors must travel under confirmed group tour package to any of the seven countries and Malaysia. Point of entry and exit is at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and at low-cost carrier terminal only, the statement said.
"The group can be comprised of members of a family," an official of the high commission told The Daily Star.
A group can enjoy the transit facility either on their way to any of the said seven countries or on their way back home, he said.
Malaysia in 2006 introduced a visa-on-arrival scheme for visitors from 24 countries to promote tourism, according to an AFP report published in The Daily Star on May 26.
The immigration officials of Malaysia however wanted to see the scheme scrapped after many visitors were found to have overstayed, the majority of them reportedly Indians who remained to work in restaurants and on plantations.