Nearly 9,000 Bangladeshis in prisons abroad

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday informed the parliament that a total of 8,848 Bangladeshi citizens are currently in jails and detention centres in 53 countries.

Foreign ministry, with the help from embassies, are working to bring back these detained Bangladeshis. The ministry appoints lawyers to help detainees on legal ground to free them and get general amnesty, Momen said while answering a query of ruling Awami League lawmaker Abdul Latif.

According to the minister, the highest number of 2,049 detainees are in prisons of India.

In addition, there are 1,289 prisoners in Saudi Arabia, 1,156 in UAE, 693 in Bahrain, 572 in Malaysia, 442 in Oman and 316 in Kuwait and other countries, he said.

Answering to anoter query, Momen said his ministry is going to launch a smartphone app named “Dutabash”, to offer round-the-clock service to Bangladeshi expatriates.