Bangladesh to renew passports for 69,000 Rohingyas under Saudi pressure: Touhid
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Bangladesh has agreed to renew passports for 69,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Saudi Arabia, following sustained pressure from Riyadh, said foreign adviser Touhid Hossain on Wednesday, insisting that the move does not confer citizenship.
Talking to the reporters, the interim government’s foreign affairs adviser acknowledged that past administrative failures and corruption had allowed large numbers of Rohingyas to travel abroad using Bangladeshi passports decades ago, when passports were issued by hand.
“Because of our own mistakes, many Rohingyas went to Saudi Arabia using Bangladeshi passports years ago,” Hossain told journalists at the foreign ministry. “There were widespread allegations of corruption at the time.”
According to Hossain, Saudi authorities are now pressing Bangladesh to renew the documents of those individuals, placing Dhaka in a difficult diplomatic position.
“The situation has reached a point where Saudi Arabia is exerting pressure on us to renew those passports,” he said. “We tried to avoid this decision, but considering our broader national interests, we ultimately decided that around 69,000 Rohingyas would be issued renewed Bangladeshi passports.”
He was at pains to emphasise that the move does not grant nationality. “Issuing a passport does not mean these individuals are Bangladeshi citizens,” Hossain said, adding that international precedents exist for states issuing travel documents to non-citizens.
Bangladesh hosts more than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees who fled military persecution in Myanmar, most of them since a violent crackdown in 2017. Dhaka has consistently argued that the Rohingyas are residents of Myanmar’s Rakhine (Arakan) state and must ultimately be repatriated.
“The world recognises the Rohingyas as a distinct community originating from Myanmar,” Hossain said. “Their ancestors lived there for centuries. They must be taken back.”
He suggested that technical complications should not obstruct a long-term solution. “This issue will not remain stalled over minor technicalities. If conditions for repatriation can be created, much more work will be required,” he added.
Asked about a leaked audio involving a US diplomat, Hossain declined to comment, saying speculation served little purpose amid political uncertainty in Washington. On broader foreign policy, he stressed that Bangladesh would act “in accordance with its national interests”.