Following a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, a top Bangladeshi diplomat said on Wednesday that Rohingya refugees who have lived there for decades will not be sent back to Bangladesh. “Saudi Arabia has not stated whether or not it will return Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh. And there was no such disagreement between the two nations “Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, said this in response to his recent meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir.

In response to a query about what Bangladesh will do in response to Saudi Arabia’s request that some Rohingya living in Saudi Arabia be issued Bangladeshi passports, the minister claimed that Bangladesh will issue or renew passports to those who have legal documents. The minister also mentioned reports in the media that the Kingdom had requested Bangladesh to provide passports to 55,000 people who had lost or expired their papers.

Alam made the remarks during a press conference in Dhaka after returning from a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. “We asked the Saudi government to include information on the papers, including passport numbers and names, because the citizens only have border entry numbers and then, after scrutinizing their documents, we will take the next course of action,” he said.

Bangladesh also suggested the formation of a joint committee with officials from both sides to look into the issue and review the documents before taking further action, according to Alam. “We’ll verify nationality the way it’s normally done. Yeah, there were some accidents, loopholes, and anomalies in the passport-issuing procedures, as a result of which some people obtained passports in the Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram areas and traveled to the Kingdom. “And if we can recognize someone who is a Bangladeshi, we will issue them Bangladeshi passports,” Alam added.

He said, “We, both countries, are and will remain engaged on the subject.” According to a media report from January this year, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan said in Dhaka that his government had already submitted a list of approximately 55,000 citizens whose documents had either expired or were lost.

According to media reports, Rohingya refugees have used Bangladeshi passports to fly to Saudi Arabia on many occasions over the years. Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen said earlier this year, in response to Saudi Arabia’s request, that “it would be helpful for the Kingdom if Bangladesh provides them with passports as the kingdom does not hold stateless citizens.”

Source