57 pardoned Bangladeshi may work in UAE: Foreign adviser

Fifty seven convicted Bangladeshis, who received amnesty in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), may get a chance to work again in the oil-rich nation, foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain said Tuesday.

“As far as I know, they may be able to work again in the UAE,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry in the afternoon.

The foreign adviser said the amnesty granted to 57 Bangladeshi nationals serving prison sentences in the UAE is a significant success for chief adviser professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.

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.

“With this amnesty, these 57 individuals are now free, and their families have been relieved from a major crisis,” Hossain said.

On 28 August, UAE president Alam said Zayed Al Nahyan phoned professor Yunus and during their telephonic conversation, the issue of amnesty to 57 Bangladeshis was focused.

The Bangladeshi diaspora staged demonstrations abroad expressing their solidarity to the student-people movement against the autocratic Sheikh Hasina government.

The Bangladeshi expatriates were detained in the UAE while staging a protest there.

After getting the news, chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus expressed his gratitude to the UAE President for granting amnesty to all 57 Bangladeshis convicted earlier by the UAE Federal Court.

In a letter to the UAE president, he said: “I avail the opportunity to convey our deepest gratitude to Your Highness for your benevolent decision to pardon the 57 Bangladeshi nationals who expressed solidarity with the recent students-mass revolution back home through demonstrations in a few cities in the United Arab Emirates.”