Bangladeshi migrants who were arrested and jailed in the UAE in July 2024 and returned home receiving special pardon demanded that the government bring back the rest 26 migrants who are still in jail.
They were speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Expatriates鈥� Welfare and Overseas Employment on Saturday on 鈥楻emittance Fighters鈥� Day鈥� marking the remittance shutdown day in 2024.
Bangladeshi migrant workers across the world called for a remittance shutdown on August 2, 2024 supporting the July movement in Bangladesh.
The migrants also brought out street protests in many countries including the UAE. Following the protest, the UAE police filed a case against the protesters and jailed many of them.
After the fall of the fascist regime, the UAE ruler pardoned the jailed Bangladeshis at the request of Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government.
Alam Abdul Gafur, one of the 188 persons released from UAE jail, said that although they were given a new life after being released, at least 26 of their fellow protesters were still passing days in the jail.
He also demanded compensation and rehabilitation of the victims.
Chief adviser鈥檚 special envoy Lutfey Siddiqi said that general pardon for foreign workers in UAE was very unusual which happened in the case of the Bangladeshi remittance fighters.
The government will support the migrants who took the risk abroad to support democracy in Bangladesh, he assured the audience.
As the chief guest, expatriate welfare affairs adviser Asif Nazrul said that a lot of people sacrificed in different ways to overthrow the fascist government where migrant workers played a vital role.
鈥榃e should do many more for migrants and we have that plan,鈥� he said.
He urged the people to opt for safe and regular migration and requested aspirant migrants not to take any risky route.
He said that labour migration turned difficult for the bad reputation of a few number of migrants. Because of one per cent people鈥檚 offence, the whole sector has been suffering, he said.
Mizanur Rahman, another victim of the UAE protest, said that the case filed against them in the UAE was still on process.
He requested the government to help wind up the case. He feared that more Bangladeshi migrants might be arrested in the case in the future.
Expatriate welfare ministry secretary Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, among others, spoke at the event.
