Bangladesh to renew passports for 69,000 Rohingyas in KSA

Staff Correspondent: The Saudi government has urged the renewal of passports of 69,000 Rohingya citizens who went to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh after the country’s independence.
In this regard, a delegation led by the Deputy Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia held bilateral discussions with the Home Minister of Bangladesh.
A bilateral meeting was held between the Home Minister of Bangladesh and the Deputy Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia at Hotel La Meridien in Nikunja in the capital on Sunday (May 12).
After the meeting, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters that some Rohingyas from Bangladesh went to Saudi Arabia after the independence of the country. We don’t know how many there are. They told us 69 thousand.
As per the rules of Saudi Arabia, they are sent back if they do not have a passport. In that case, we had an agreement with Saudi Arabia, they will not send back the Rohingyas, their papers will be renewed.
Interior Minister said, why are we going slow in this regard? Or they came to see if we had any problems. Also, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of both countries with the delegation of Saudi Arabia. Capacity building of our Border Guard Bangladesh, Coast Guard and Police was discussed. At the same time, we have said that the training centers in Saudi Arabia send these training centers to our country, which will strengthen the friendship between the two countries.
The home minister said that the delegation of Saudi Arabia has proposed a prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries. Bangladesh has prisoner exchange agreements with many countries of the world. It would be good if Saudi made this deal again. Talked about sending Ansar from Bangladesh for their security guard. They will check on this. You know that we have created Ansar as a guard regiment for VIP security.
Home Minister said, we have talked about Rohingyas, they are also thinking about this matter seriously. They are working on repatriating the Rohingyas to Myanmar as soon as possible.
Bangladesh has a visa waiver with some countries in the Middle East. We are talking with UAE, the agreement with UAE will be completed in the future. Saudi Arabia has agreed with us on this.
Which state will take responsibility for 69 thousand Rohingya in Saudi Arabia? In response to the questions of the journalists, the home minister said that Saudi Arabia will not send anyone back. Again, the Saudi government will not give the Rohingya citizenship of that country. But how will it be? For that they need some documents so they requested us. We signed it last year. They came to talk directly about whether we were having any difficulties there, or whether there were any loo-falls.
Will the Rohingya staying in Saudi get a Bangladeshi passport? In response to such a question, the Home Minister said that they had taken Bangladeshi passports. So, we will only renew their passports. Their name and address will remain as it is in the passport.
When asked how the security and management of Hajj is this time, the Home Minister said that Hajj has been well managed this time. The immigration system of our country has been launched. No need to wait for immigration here. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has launched another system called Road to Mecca. Hajj pilgrims will deposit their luggage here and their luggage will be delivered to the hotel where Hajj pilgrims stay in Saudi. I hope Haj pilgrims will take this opportunity.
The Home Minister said that during the discussion, the Deputy Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia said that about 3 million Bangladeshis are working in Saudi Arabia. He assured that this opportunity will increase in the future.