Overseas journalists protest ban on Nazrul Islam’s travel to China

OCAB says the decision by security and immigration officials is “unwanted, unexpected and a clear violation of basic rights to travel”

The Overseas Correspondents Association Bangladesh (OCAB) has objected to the decision to prevent journalist Nazrul Islam from travelling to China.

The Dhaka-based platform for journalists working at international media outlets said security and immigration officials had barred Nazrul from travelling abroad from Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday.

Nazrul is employed by German news agency DPA and is the incumbent president of OCAB, the organisation said in a media statement on Tuesday.

“OCAB unanimously condemned the development, saying that such a travel ban without showing any valid reason by the security and immigration officials is unwanted, unexpected and a clear violation of basic rights to travel, and an attempt to inject fear and confusion in the minds of the journalists,” it said.

It also noted that it was “regrettable” that the incident took place on World Press Freedom Day.

The day before, OCAB had issued a statement urging the government and political stakeholders to:

• Guarantee the physical safety of journalists and ensure swift accountability for attacks

• Release all journalists detained arbitrarily and held without formal charges

• Withdraw charges filed against hundreds of journalists that many international monitors have deemed disproportionate

• Reform or repeal laws that restrict freedom of expression and independent journalism

• Promote media literacy, support independent fact-checking initiatives, and strengthen security measures for media professionals against cyber threats

Nazrul said that he had collected his boarding pass for the trip when immigration police called him aside, questioned him about his work, and his role as OCAB president.

He was then allegedly informed that he would not be able to travel to China as he had no clearance from “security agencies”.

Afterwards, Nazrul took to Facebook, claiming immigration officials did not show any valid reason that barred him from travelling.

“OCAB calls on the government to immediately clarify the incident and stop such unlawful moves and other repressive acts that undermine the rights of journalists,” the organisation said.