Bangladesh gives passport to 22,000 Rohingyas living in Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh has given passport to 22,000 Rohingya people living in Saudi Arabia after proper verification, said Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Monday.

The government has also sent a special team to Saudi Arabia to accelerate the process of delivering the passports to in total 69,000 Rohingyas, who are natives of Myanmar, living in Saudi Arabia, the minister added.

The home minister revealed the developments after Saudi Ambassador to Dhaka Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah asked him to accelerate the related works during a courtesy meeting held at the Secretariat.

Salahuddin said that Bangladeshi passport has to be given to the Rohingya residents of Saudi Arabia if they have the required documents or have proofs of meeting the required criteria.

He also stressed that no corrupt practice or irregularity will be tolerated in the passport delivery process.

In this regard, he ordered the Bangladeshi officials present at the courtesy meeting to reassess the identity status of Rohingya passport holders and collect a full list of those living in Saudi Arabia from the Middle East country.