Saudi expats, repatriated for supporting anti-discrimination protests, demand rehabilitation
They have also demanded to be resent to different countries at government expense
A group of Bangladeshi expatriates have demanded rehabilitation for themselves and other expatriates who were punished and sent back home from Saudi Arabia and different Middle Eastern countries for expressing solidarity with the anti-discrimination movement that led to the ouster of the Awami League government in August.
At a press briefing held under the banner of "Victim Saudi Expatriates" at the National Press Club in Dhaka today (17 October), they also demanded to be resent to different countries at government expense.
Shahid, who read out a written statement alongside several others, said all the expatriates knew that it was illegal to hold protest programmes in public in Middle Eastern countries but they still did it as they could not stay silent anymore after seeing the autocratic Sheikh Hasina government killing students and general people during the movement.
"Many of us were arrested from different parts of Saudi Arabia and sent to jail for violating the laws. We spent 41 days in prison and returned home emptyhanded," he said.
The interim government had announced that it would create a database of all the affected expatriates who were arrested in different Middle Eastern countries and help them with rehabilitation and financial aid, Shahid said. "But two months have passed and no one from the government has contacted any of us."
Their demands include one-time cash assistance to repatriated expatriates who are jobless, immediate steps to provide jobs locally until employment opportunities are created abroad, the appointment of expatriate-friendly officers at the Bangladesh embassies in Saudi Arabia and concerned countries, and approval of passports at the earliest without any inconvenience, among others.