Bangladesh embassy in Bahrain ransacked
Several hundred Bangladeshis stormed the Bangladesh embassy in Bahrain on Wednesday, damaging property in protest over delayed paperwork, reports a Bahrain-based daily.
Police were then forced to fire tear gas to disperse the chaotic crowd that broke the main gate of the diplomatic mission during the stampede, according to the report published in the Gulf Daily News on Thursday.
Many Bangladeshis and Bahrainis were waiting in line for more than eight hours to get immigration and jobs-related documents processed by the embassy in Bahrain, home to nearly 2.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers.
They said they have been visiting the embassy in Manama for four days to get a token to enter the embassy and submit their paperwork, but to no avail.
"We are here for the last four days, waiting from 2:00am, but we are unable to get a token," a Bangladeshi protester said.
"When embassy officials saw the crowd, they didn't open the main door and people had to break-in."
"There were more than 1,000 people and all came to finish their paperwork, including passport renewal, submission of documents to bring in Bangladeshis, and others."
"Police intervened and dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas. No one was able to enter and finish their work," he said.
Another Bangladeshi said he visits the mission several times a week, but always leaves disappointed.
"I am coming here almost every day but stand in a queue for several hours and go back home disappointed," he told Gulf Daily News.
"No one comes and helps us and we are tired of this situation."
"This is not the first time it happened to us, but several times, and I don't know why the embassy is not taking the initiative to solve this problem," he said.
"This has been going on for a long time and we, the Bangladeshis as well as locals, are suffering."
A Bahraini businesswoman, who has several Bangladeshi employees and clients, is so frustrated with the "slow" administrative process that she hired a third party to carry out all her paperwork.
She said, “It seems this has been going on forever, but no one has taken responsibility to answer us, and embassy officials are rude, hey don't even care about people who give business to them."
An embassy official confirmed the incident, but did not provide any more information.
The Daily Star failed to contact Bangladesh Ambassador in Bahrain Ali Akbar despite several attempts. Back in Dhaka, foreign ministry Director General Nazrul Islam (West and Central Asia) said he knew nothing about any such incident.
The Gulf News reported on April 5 this year hundreds protested outside the embassy after waiting for more than two hours to get their paperwork completed.
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