Passports Bangladeshi, holders Myanmarese

Bangladeshi and Saudi Arabian authorities have identified as many as 273 Rohingyas lodged in different jails in the Gulf country.

Though they are Myanmarese nationals, they went to Saudi Arabia a few years ago posing as Bangladeshi workers by bearing Bangladeshi passports, said sources in the foreign ministry, the home ministry’s Security Service Division, and the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP).

According to the sources, all of them have been incarcerated in Saudi prisons for the past three years and they might be deported to Bangladesh any time.

Sources revealed that at least 1,500 Bangladeshi passport holders were lodged in Saudi jails on charges of various crimes. Of them, 273 were identified as Rohingyas during verification by the Special Branch (SB) police and inquiries by the Saudi authorities.

There are as many as 20 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates working in Saudi Arabia.

During a recent meeting with the consul general of the Bangladesh consulate general office in Jeddah, the Saudi authorities had handed over a list of the 273 Rohingyas and requested the Bangladeshi government to take them back.

The list was forwarded to the foreign and home ministries for taking appropriate action in this regard.

Following this, the Security Service Division held an inter-ministerial meeting on November 13.

In the meeting, a foreign ministry official said that six Rohingyas, who bore Bangladeshi passports, were sent back to the country by Saudi Arabian authorities. When the six arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi authorities refused to receive them and they were again sent back to Saudi Arabia after being tagged as Myanmarese citizens.

The official also said the Saudi authorities will send back the 273 Rohingyas any time as their prison tenures are to end soon. According to the Saudi law, any expatriate who has completed three years of jail term is deported to his/her country of origin. “So far, 3,000 Bangladeshi expatriates, who had completed their jail terms, were sent back to the country from Saudi Arabia,” the official told the meeting.

After a long discussion, those attending the meeting decided that the Rohingyas, who are likely to be deported from Saudi Arabia, would not be sent back to Saudi Arabia as relations between Bangladesh and the Gulf country are very good.

“If the Saudi authorities deport the Rohingyas to our country, we would receive them and then either send them to refugee camps or try to push them back to Myanmar,” according to the official.

In January, the consul general of the Bangladeshi mission in Jeddah had sent a list of 16 people staying in Saudi Arabia to the home ministry, requesting the verification of their identities. Accordingly, the ministry had asked the Special Branch (SB) to launch a probe.

Investigations by the Detective Branch (DB) of police and the SB have revealed that several Rohingyas possess Bangladeshi machine read passports (MRPs).

Azim Ullah, son of Mubarok Amin, passport office enrolment No. 219564; Gamira, daughter of Abdul Amin, passport office enrolment No. 219554; Amina Khatun, daughter of Abdul Jabbar, passport office enrolment No. 219562; and Chenuar Begum, daughter of Shahab Mia, passport office enrolment No. 218090—all from Noapur village in Comilla—had applied for MRPs at the Comilla passport office. Following the investigation, the SB had informed the authorities concerned that all of them were Myanmarese citizens.

The passport department has also cancelled over 6,000 passports, including AC 4353672 (Tareq Mohammed), AC 772705 (Nasima Khatun), AC 9617058 (Mohammad Rafiq), AC 0471062 (Hafez Mohammad Abdullah), AC 6385677 (Md. Sayed Ullah), AC 7494794 (Md Badiul Alam) and AC 3772706 (Noor Khatun).

Md Zakaria Biswas, vice-consul and the head of chancery of the Bangladeshi consulate general office in Jeddah, had written a letter to the home ministry in January, stating: “Many Rohingyas have been staying in Saudi Arabia using Bangladeshi passports with Hajj, Umra and job visas. Many are staying illegally after the expiry of their respective visas. Many Rohingyas have taken Burmese ID cards and bear Burmese seals on their passports to get special benefits in Saudi Arabia.”

“These people could not show any evidence like sending remittances or purchase of saving instruments for anybody in Bangladesh. Lots of complications have arisen over their identities and permanent addresses in Bangladesh. That is why it has become difficult to renew their passports along with the inclusion of names of their children in their passports,” the letter stated.

“If any Bangladeshi passport holder has a Burmese ID card, he/she would require the home ministry’s permission for the renewal of their passports,” it added.

Sources said a number of Rohingyas staying in Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, seek Bangladeshi MRPs.

These people enrol for Bangladeshi MRPs by using fake names and addresses in the country’s missions abroad.

Every three to four months, several lists of people staying in Middle Eastern countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, are sent from the Bangladeshi mission offices to the home ministry to check their identities for issuing “no objection” certificates in order to issue Bangladeshi MRPs for them.

Intelligence agencies, especially the SB of police, have found that the permanent and present addresses of most of these applicants and their close relatives are fake.

Talking to The Independent, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said his ministry has instructed the authorities concerned to issue MRPs only after proper verification. “Everybody (Bangladeshi citizen) has the right to get an MRP, and we are issuing travel advisory only after police verification,” he added.

Sources in the passport department said many Rohingyas had received MRPs between 2011 and 2013 from different passport offices, including the regional offices in Cox’s Bazar, Comilla and Noakhali. Most of them went abroad, particularly the Middle East, as Bangladeshi workers.

Sources in the expatriate and overseas employment ministry said a number of Rohingyas, who had crossed over to Bangladesh from the restive Rakhine state in Myanmar, are working by posing as Bangladeshi citizens in different Middle East countries by using Bangladeshi passports.  The Saudi government had beheaded two Rohingyas for committing crimes in that country in 2012.

In 2010, the authorities had seized 31,205 handwritten passports from the regional passport office in Mymensingh.

Hundreds of Rohingya refugees keep entering Bangladesh through different border points along the forested and mountainous frontier with Myanmar. According to relief ministry statistics, over six lakh Rohingyas are staying at different camps at Nayapara and Leda in Teknaf and Kutupalong in Ukhiya.

Passports Bangladeshi, holders Myanmarese

Bangladeshi and Saudi Arabian authorities have identified as many as 273 Rohingyas lodged in different jails in the Gulf country. Though they are Myanmarese nationals, they went to Saudi Arabia a few years ago posing as Bangladeshi workers by bearing Bangladeshi passports, said sources in the foreign ministry, the home ministrys Security Service Division, and the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP). According to the sources, all of them have been incarcerated in Saudi prisons for the past three years and they might be deported to Bangladesh any time. Sources revealed that at least 1,500 Bangladeshi passport holders were lodged in Saudi jails on charges of various crimes. Of them, 273 were identified as Rohingyas during verification by the Special Branch (SB) police and inquiries by the Saudi authorities. There are as many as 20 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. During a recent meeting with the consul general of the Bangladesh consulate general office in Jeddah, the Saudi authorities had handed over a list of the 273 Rohingyas and requested the Bangladeshi government to take them back. The list was forwarded to the foreign and home ministries for taking appropriate action in this regard. Following this, the Security Service Division held an inter-ministerial meeting on November 13. In the meeting, a foreign ministry official said that six Rohingyas, who bore Bangladeshi passports, were sent back to the country by Saudi Arabian authorities. When the six arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi authorities refused to receive them and they were again sent back to Saudi Arabia after being tagged as Myanmarese citizens. The official also said the Saudi authorities will send back the 273 Rohingyas any time as their prison tenures are to end soon. According to the Saudi law, any expatriate who has completed three years of jail term is deported to his/her country of origin. So far, 3,000 Bangladeshi expatriates, who had completed their jail terms, were sent back to the country from Saudi Arabia, the official told the meeting. After a long discussion, those attending the meeting decided that the Rohingyas, who are likely to be deported from Saudi Arabia, would not be sent back to Saudi Arabia as relations between Bangladesh and the Gulf country are very good. If the Saudi authorities deport the Rohingyas to our country, we would receive them and then either send them to refugee camps or try to push them back to Myanmar, according to the official. In January, the consul general of the Bangladeshi mission in Jeddah had sent a list of 16 people staying in Saudi Arabia to the home ministry, requesting the verification of their identities. Accordingly, the ministry had asked the Special Branch (SB) to launch a probe. Investigations by the Detective Branch (DB) of police and the SB have revealed that several Rohingyas possess Bangladeshi machine read passports (MRPs). Azim Ullah, son of Mubarok Amin, passport office enrolment No. 219564; Gamira, daughter of Abdul Amin, passport office enrolment No. 219554; Amina Khatun, daughter of Abdul Jabbar, passport office enrolment No. 219562; and Chenuar Begum, daughter of Shahab Mia, passport office enrolment No. 218090all from Noapur village in Comillahad applied for MRPs at the Comilla passport office. Following the investigation, the SB had informed the authorities concerned that all of them were Myanmarese citizens. The passport department has also cancelled over 6,000 passports, including AC 4353672 (Tareq Mohammed), AC 772705 (Nasima Khatun), AC 9617058 (Mohammad Rafiq), AC 0471062 (Hafez Mohammad Abdullah), AC 6385677 (Md. Sayed Ullah), AC 7494794 (Md Badiul Alam) and AC 3772706 (Noor Khatun). Md Zakaria Biswas, vice-consul and the head of chancery of the Bangladeshi consulate general office in Jeddah, had written a letter to the home ministry in January, stating: Many Rohingyas have been staying in Saudi Arabia using Bangladeshi passports with Hajj, Umra and job visas. Many are staying illegally after the expiry of their respective visas. Many Rohingyas have taken Burmese ID cards and bear Burmese seals on their passports to get special benefits in Saudi Arabia. These people could not show any evidence like sending remittances or purchase of saving instruments for anybody in Bangladesh. Lots of complications have arisen over their identities and permanent addresses in Bangladesh. That is why it has become difficult to renew their passports along with the inclusion of names of their children in their passports, the letter stated. If any Bangladeshi passport holder has a Burmese ID card, he/she would require the home ministrys permission for the renewal of their passports, it added. Sources said a number of Rohingyas staying in Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, seek Bangladeshi MRPs. These people enrol for Bangladeshi MRPs by using fake names and addresses in the countrys missions abroad. Every three to four months, several lists of people staying in Middle Eastern countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, are sent from the Bangladeshi mission offices to the home ministry to check their identities for issuing no objection certificates in order to issue Bangladeshi MRPs for them. Intelligence agencies, especially the SB of police, have found that the permanent and present addresses of most of these applicants and their close relatives are fake. Talking to The Independent, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said his ministry has instructed the authorities concerned to issue MRPs only after proper verification. Everybody (Bangladeshi citizen) has the right to get an MRP, and we are issuing travel advisory only after police verification, he added. Sources in the passport department said many Rohingyas had received MRPs between 2011 and 2013 from different passport offices, including the regional offices in Coxs Bazar, Comilla and Noakhali. Most of them went abroad, particularly the Middle East, as Bangladeshi workers. Sources in the expatriate and overseas employment ministry said a number of Rohingyas, who had crossed over to Bangladesh from the restive Rakhine state in Myanmar, are working by posing as Bangladeshi citizens in different Middle East countries by using Bangladeshi passports. The Saudi government had beheaded two Rohingyas for committing crimes in that country in 2012. In 2010, the authorities had seized 31,205 handwritten passports from the regional passport office in Mymensingh. Hundreds of Rohingya refugees keep entering Bangladesh through different border points along the forested and mountainous frontier with Myanmar. According to relief ministry statistics, over six lakh Rohingyas are staying at different camps at Nayapara and Leda in Teknaf and Kutupalong in Ukhiya.