THE remarks of the foreign affairs minister and the expatriate welfare and overseas employment minister that the arrest and the imprisonment of 57 Bangladeshis in Dubai is an internal affair of the United Arab Emirates are unfortunate and, therefore, unacceptable. The remarks that the ministers made in Dhaka on July 24 are nothing short of Bangladesh鈥檚 disowning its own citizens. A court in the United Arab Emirates has handed the Bangladeshis long prison terms for holding protests in the Gulf state on July 19 against their home government, back in Bangladesh, which ordered indiscriminate attacks on student protesters seeking reforms in civil service job reservations. The attacks have so far left at least 163 dead in nine days. The Gulf state bans 鈥榰nauthorised protests鈥� and prohibits criticism or speech that might create social unrest. The Gulf state鈥檚 penal code also criminalises offending foreign states or jeopardising ties with them. The charges, as the Emirates News Agency reported on July 22, followed a swift investigation ordered on July 20 as the 鈥榙efendants gathered and organised large-scale marches in several streets鈥� in the Gulf state. The convictions announced the next day sentenced three Bangladeshi expatriates to life in prison, 53 to 10 years and one to 11 years.
But the Bangladeshis sentenced in the Gulf state appear to have stood up there against what happened back home as they could be rightly concerned about their friends and relatives many of whom may have joined the student protests. Bangladeshis form the third largest expatriate group in the United Arab Emirates mostly working as labourers. And, although the local law of the Gulf state imposes prohibition on protests, many of these Bangladesh may not have been well aware of the proposition. The government in Bangladesh took off mobile internet connectivity on July 16; the broadband internet services were taken off at night on July 18, which were partially restored at night on July 23. The regular mobile network was also overburdened. In such a situation of internet blackout, giving rise to speculations, when people were dying in attacks by law enforcement units, the protests could be emotional outbursts of some Bangladeshis in the Gulf state who took to the streets reportedly 鈥榩eacefully鈥�. Media reports say that the UAE court-appointed defence lawyer argued during the trial that the gatherings had no criminal intent. Amnesty International has already condemned what it called the United Arab Emirates鈥� 鈥榚xtreme reaction to the mere existence of a public protest.鈥� Human Rights Watch also called for the release of the Bangladeshis, noting that hurried proceedings completed in less than 48 hours might not have ensured a fair trial.
Bangladesh authorities must, therefore, come out of their denial approach and, rather, take up the issue with the UAE authorities for the release of the Bangladeshis. National and international rights groups should also look into the issue and act for the release of the Bangladeshis sentenced there. Bangladesh authorities cannot leave its citizens in the lurch in a foreign land.