‘8,848 Bangladeshis in foreign jails’
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen tells parliament
2112 Bangladeshis in Indian jails
1156 in UAE, 768 in KSA
693 in Bahrain, 572 in Malaysia
A total of 8,848 Bangladeshi nationals are currently in jails or detention centres of different countries including India, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen placed the statistics in the parliament today while replying to a query of M Abdul Latif, a lawmaker of Chattogram-11 parliamentary constituency.
Of the prisoners, 2112 Bangladeshis, the highest number, are in the prisons of India.
Besides, 1156 Bangladeshis are in UAE jails while 768 in Saudi Arabia, 693 in Bahrain, 572 in Malaysia, 442 in Oman and 316 in Kuwait prisons, according to the minister.
The ministry has been working with different embassies and preparing travel documents and other necessary papers for reducing the tenure of punishment or complete clemency for the detainees by appointing lawyers, Momen said.
The parliament session began this afternoon with Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah in the chair.