USA imposes travel ban on protest-hit Bangladesh

The U.S. State Department on Saturday warned Americans against traveling to Bangladesh and announced that it would begin deporting some diplomats and their families from the country rocked by deadly unrest.

“Travellers should avoid travelling to Bangladesh due to the ongoing unrest in Dhaka,” the ministry said in a warning, reinforcing its recommendation to reconsider travel issued earlier in the day.

The State Department is allowing the voluntary departure of U.S. government employees and their family members who are not in an emergency situation, the statement said.

At least 133 people were killed this week in Bangladesh, according to a count by the AFP news agency, during protests there this month demanding an end to the quota system that reserves more than half of public sector jobs for certain groups.

Soldiers patrolled Bangladeshi cities to quell growing unrest, while riot police shot at protesters defying a government-imposed curfew.

acb/fox