Bangladesh Seeks Hasina’s Return Under Prisoner Exchange Agreement: Home Minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said that Bangladesh does not yet know whether reports of fugitive convict Sheikh Hasina applying for a passport and National Identity Card (NID) are true. He said Bangladesh wants to bring her back through the prisoner exchange agreement.

The Home Minister said the report that Ms. Hasina had applied to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi to get her passport and NID back has not yet been verified.
He said the Foreign Ministry and Law Ministry are examining the matter. They will review the relevant laws to determine whether she has any legal basis or right to make such an application.
The Home Minister made the remarks while answering questions from journalists at the Secretariat on Monday (November 9).

Asked about the report that Ms. Hasina had applied for her passport and NID, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “I have also heard about it and saw it in the scrolling news. It says fugitive convict Sheikh Hasina has applied for her passport and NID. But I have not been able to verify whether it is true yet.”
Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said a regular passport application would not be valid for fugitives.

At a press conference on Monday, he said, “Sheikh Hasina will be brought back to Bangladesh through the prisoner exchange agreement through legal and diplomatic processes and will face trial.”
The state minister said, “Bangladesh does not issue passports to any terrorist. Rather, we want to bring them back to the country under the extradition agreement and enforce their sentences.”
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India amid the July mass uprising and has reportedly applied for a new passport and NID.
According to a Reuters report, she made the application on Monday as part of her plan to return to Bangladesh in December.