No new passport to be issued to ousted ex-PM Hasina

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State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kabir has said that the government will not issue a new passport to ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who must return to the country from India under the bilateral prisoner exchange treaty.

“Sheikh Hasina is a terrorist. She will not be given any passport,” the state minister told reporters on Monday afternoon.

His remarks came after Reuters reported that Hasina had applied for a new Bangladeshi passport and national identity card (NID) through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

According to the news agency, the application marks Hasina’s first publicly known formal contact with a Bangladeshi diplomatic mission since she fled to India on August 5, 2024.

Reuters described the move as the clearest indication yet of Hasina’s efforts to pursue a return to Bangladesh. She is reportedly planning to return in December.

Responding to the development, Kabir said Hasina would have to be brought back from India under the prisoner exchange treaty rather than being issued a new passport.