Cyprus, a European country, is giving passports to big criminal and corrupt bureaucrats and politicians in exchange for money. The government has sold dozens of passports between 2016 and 19.
Leaked secret documents from the Cypriot government show that dozens of citizens from at least 60 countries have been issued “golden passports”. A large sum of money has been taken in return. It claims to have found involvement in crime, corruption and money laundering among those who bought these passports.
Following the publication of the report, various countries, organizations and alliances, including the European Union, condemned the Cypriot government’s actions. Transparency International (TI), a global anti-corruption and research organization, has expressed concern over the incident.
According to the report, the government of Cyprus has approved more than 1,400 passport applications from 2016 to 19. Most of the applications came from South Asia and developing countries. Notable among them are Russia, China and Ukraine.
Being a member of the European Union, this passport is very useful for travel, work and financial transactions in other European countries (28 countries). Therefore, the policy ethics of the Cypriot government has been questioned in the international arena.
There are usually no criminal records in the past when it comes to obtaining a Cypriot passport. The investment is to purchase assets worth at least US 2.5 million or the equivalent. For at least six years, the European Union has been criticizing the sale of this ‘golden passport’ from Cyprus.
There is a lot of pressure to stop it. However, this time the information of selling this passport in violation of their own law was revealed from secret documents. The law of not giving a passport to someone with a criminal record is not obeyed here. Passports have also been given to tainted Assamese from different countries. However, not only the people who bought the passports, but also their family members got these passports.
However, the Cypriot Interior Minister claimed that no one is being given a passport in violation of the law or policy. Among those who bought passports was Mir Rahman Rahmani, the speaker of the Afghan parliament. He bought passports not only for himself, but also for his wife and three daughters. Helped another family get a passport.
Rahmani is a former military officer in Afghanistan. He has long mediated oil deals with the Afghan government and the United States. There are allegations of corruption against him. He is also accused of rigging the Afghan election.
2021-05-04 17:12:46
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