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Around 7,500 Bangladeshis are imprisoned in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(KSA), while Dhaka is seeking details from Riyadh about the execution of two Bangladeshi nationals, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Friday.
Bangladesh has formally requested copies of the court verdicts from the Saudi government to determine the charges against the two men and the reasons for their execution. Dhaka has yet to receive detailed information about the cases, she said.
The state minister made the remarks while receiving the body of Bangladeshi worker Mohammad Shahed Ahmed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Friday morning.
Shahed was killed in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10.
Shama said Bangladesh had summoned the Saudi ambassador to discuss the executions and formally sought copies of the judgments.
The government is also checking whether the names of the two executed Bangladeshis appeared on lists of convicted prisoners periodically sent by Saudi Arabia, she added.
She said Bangladesh did not intend to interfere in another country’s judicial system but considered it essential to obtain details when its nationals were convicted abroad, particularly when a death sentence was carried out.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs works with the ministries of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and Home Affairs on such cases, she said. Where there is an opportunity to seek a pardon or commutation of a sentence, the government also pursues the matter through diplomatic channels.
Bangladeshi worker’s body brought home
Shahed’s body arrived in Dhaka on Friday morning and was later handed over to his wife, Kohinur Akter Kakoli, along with financial assistance from the government.
He hailed from Madla village in Shahjahanpur upazila of Bogura district. His parents are Mohammad Rafiqul Islam and Shahera Begum.
Shahed worked as a plumber on a Jeddah project for a Saudi contracting company. He was returning to his workplace via Riyadh after leave when he was caught in the airport attack.
Another Bangladeshi, Mohammad Nasrullah Badarpuri, from Badarpur village in Nangalkot upazila of Cumilla, was also killed in the attack. Several other Bangladeshis were injured, although reports differed on the number. An earlier Foreign Ministry estimate put the number of injured at 24.
Shama said more than four million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia, exposing a large number of migrant workers to risks when conflict or other emergencies occur in the country.
Over the past six months, the bodies of 11 Bangladeshis killed in conflicts in the Middle East have been repatriated, with Shahed being the latest, she said.
Three Bangladeshis have been killed in missile attacks in Saudi Arabia over the past month, according to the state minister. Shahed’s body has been brought home, while efforts are under way to repatriate the remains of the other two victims as soon as possible.
She expressed hope that no more Bangladeshis would lose their lives in similar incidents.
The government is also discussing the extension and renewal of visas for Bangladeshi migrant workers stranded in Bangladesh because of the conflict in the Middle East, she said.
Action promised over complaints against missions
Responding to complaints that Bangladeshi expatriates do not receive adequate assistance from the country’s overseas missions, Shama said every mission has a labour welfare wing where migrant workers can submit grievances.
Officials responsible for expatriate welfare and labour affairs work through these wings, she said.
Assisting overseas Bangladeshis is the responsibility of both the missions and the government. Any allegation of negligence against a mission would be investigated and appropriate action taken if necessary, she added.