Bangladesh crisis deepens: Yunus govt deploys SWAT, BGB to control protesting secretariat staff

Government employees protested for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, demanding the repeal of the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which has halted administrative functions at the Bangladesh Secretariat and barred outsider entry.

Issued by the President and gazetted on Sunday evening, the ordinance empowers the government to terminate employees for four categories of disciplinary violations through a show-cause notice, without initiating formal departmental proceedings.

At around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, members of the specialist SWAT unit were seen stationed at the main entrance of the Secretariat. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were also deployed outside.

The protest began around 11:00 a.m. outside Building No. 6 in the Secretariat’s Badamtoli sector, amid heightened security at all gates.

Stringent security measures remain in place, with government employees continuing their demonstrations against the newly enacted ordinance, which was gazetted shortly after staff voiced opposition and four days after the advisory council approved its draft.

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Only Secretariat officials and staff are being permitted entry. The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier announced on Monday that visitors would not be allowed into the premises today.