Bangladeshi migrants in the United Arab Emirates demonstrate in the country to express solidarity with the quota reform protests in Bangladesh. File Photo
A total of 14 Bangladeshi migrants out of 57, who were granted pardon by the president of the United Arab Emirates, UAE, are expected to return home on Saturday evening.
A statement from the press wing of the chief adviser's office informed this on Saturday afternoon.
It said said the first group of 14 Bangladeshi migrants who have been granted pardon by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, are expected to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong between 7PM and 10PM on Saturday evening.
On July 19, groups of mostly Bangladeshi nationals who live in the UAE carried out peaceful protests in multiple locations across the UAE to express solidarity with the student protesters in Bangladesh
A federal court in the UAE, which bans unauthorised protests, swiftly convicted the 57 Bangladeshis for “gathering and inciting riotsâ€.
Among them, three were sentenced to life imprisonment, 53 were given 10-year sentences, and one was sentenced to 11 years.
The Chief Adviser had appealed to the UAE President for release of 57 individuals, those who were serving long-term sentences there, and in a gesture of respect towards Dr. Yunus, the UAE President granted them amnesty.
Earlier, at the meeting with editors, Dr Yunus said that Bangladesh had approached the UAE authorities requesting them to release the imprisoned Bangladeshis for staging the protest. Bangladesh told UAE that their protests were not staged against the Emirates government-- but against the authorities in Bangladesh.
In line with His Highness' directive, Chancellor Dr. Hamad Al Shamsi, UAE Attorney-General, has issued an order to halt the implementation of the sentences and commence deportation procedures.
Earlier, on Tuesday (September 3), Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam informed the media that on August 28, the chief adviser had a conversation with the president of the UAE over phone, during which a large part of the discussion was about pardoning the 57 sentenced individuals.
The chief advisor had requested the president to pardon the expatriate workers, and the president fulfilled his request.
