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Hasina Requests Passport to Return to Bangladesh
· Confirmed
In Short: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport and identity card to return to Bangladesh after two years in exile.
People cheering in front of the Prime Minister's Office after Sheikh Hasina's resignation.
Sheikh Hasina’s Return to Bangladesh? Ex-PM Seeks New Passport Amid Political Uncertainty | News18. CNN-News18
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since August 2024, has requested a new passport and identity card to return to Bangladesh, according to reports.
In a letter to the Bangladeshi government, Hasina asked that her request be processed 'expeditiously' based on her Bangladeshi nationality.
Hasina, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 to 2024, fled to India after student-led protests forced her from power in August 2024.
She has promised to return to Bangladesh in December and intends to surrender before a court there once formalities are completed.
Hasina's return could impact the country's political and legal landscape, as she faces a death sentence in absentia for ordering a crackdown on student protests.
Her return could also potentially improve relations with India, which have been strained since her exile.
Hasina's aides have stated that she is determined to return to Bangladesh by December, despite the legal challenges she faces.
The government of Bangladesh has been seeking her extradition from India and has dismissed suggestions that she needs new identification documents to return home.
Junior minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh wants Hasina to be handed over under an extradition treaty with India.
Hasina's return could also affect the stability of Bangladesh, as she still enjoys support among sections of the population.
What's confirmed
- Hasina, who has been living in India for two years, has promised that she would return to Bangladesh in December.
- She served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2009 to 2024.
- Hasina’s letter to the Bangladeshi government, cited by Reuters, asked that her request be processed “expeditiously” on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality.
- Hasina told the news agency Reuters that she intended to surrender before a court in Bangladesh, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced once various formalities were completed.
- Bangladesh’s war crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last November for ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests that swept the country in 2024.
- Hasina is the daughter of Bangladesh’s founder and first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
- Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport and identity card to allow her to return from self-imposed exile in India.
- The government has been seeking her extradition from India and earlier dismissed suggestions she needed new identification documents to return home.
- The United Nations has said nearly 1,400 people were killed.
- Hasina told The Associated Press in an interview this month that she would return to Bangladesh in December at any cost.
- FILE - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives to attend The Queen's Dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018.
- Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport to facilitate her return from exile two years after she was ousted in a mass uprising.
What's still developing
- A federal judge approved a request by the Department of Homeland Security to raid Omar’s house last week and seize her phone, passport, notebooks, and personal computers.
- In September this year, Hasina said she was preparing to return to Bangladesh and face imprisonment.
- This comes after the exiled leader said she will return to Bangladesh, calling the move her “ struggle to bring back democracy, rule of law and voting rights in the country”.
- The Awami League said Hasina has approached the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, through her legal representatives, urging it to expedite the process.