Here’s something interesting that the Maltese press didn’t cover. I had to do some crash reading to understand what it was all about since I have zero knowledge of Bangladeshi politics.
Last week on the 4th of December, a group of Bangladeshi residents in Malta held a protest in front of the Maltese parliament to demand freedom for Khaled Zia. Khaled Zia is the previous Prime Minister of Bangladesh and ex-leader of the Bangladeshi National Party. She was arrested in 2006 and deposed from power by a military coup and later imprisoned on corruption charges in 2018, and her political supporters claim she is being unfairly targeted. Khaled Zia is now under house arrest.
Following the military coup of 2006, Bangladesh slid into authoritarianism and rampant corruption. The current President, Mohammed Shahabuddin, was elected this year in a sham election in which he contested unopposed, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has a long track record of human rights abuses. Last year, Sheikh Hasina ordered a ban on all the online free press.
Inevitably, as Malta hosts an increasing number of foreign workers, it will have to increase its official diplomatic channels with the recipient countries. Malta does well to enhance relations with these countries and ensure that foreign workers in Malta are not being exploited and fully enjoy their freedom of speech. The Philippines Ambassador, Nathaniel Garcia Imperial, has recently lobbied against the labour exploitation of his co-nationals something which the Maltese government should support and ensure. Malta would also be doing an honourable service to the foreign workers who are contributing to its economy by advocating for democracy and human rights abroad.
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