Sheikh Hasina requests new Bangladeshi passport, says she plans to return in December

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new Bangladeshi passport. She has said she plans to return to Bangladesh in December. Hasina served as prime minister until 2024 and has lived in India since leaving Bangladesh that year. She was removed from power after a mass protest movement in which many people were killed. A Bangladeshi tribunal has since sentenced her to death over the crackdown on those protests.

The request

According to a letter cited by Reuters, Hasina also requested a new national identity card. Al Jazeera and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported this. SCMP, citing Reuters, said the request was made on Monday and is her first such communication since leaving Bangladesh. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, said the letter asked that the request be processed "expeditiously" on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality.

An unnamed source in Dhaka told The Hindu by phone: "We have received an email from Matrix Chambers, a law firm in London seeking a new passport for Sheikh Hasina. We are currently examining the content of the letter and will take an appropriate step after internal consultation." The Hindu reported that her passport was cancelled soon after she left for India in August 2024.

Return plans

The Hindu reported that Hasina announced her return plan at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club on 5 August. Her aides said on Monday that a date will be announced once formalities are completed. Awami League sources quoted by The Hindu said she may cross by land from India, for example at Benapole-Petrapole.

Background

According to Al Jazeera, United Nations estimates say as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in the 2024 protests. Al Jazeera reported that Bangladesh's war crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last November. The Hindu reported that the verdict was criticised because neither Hasina nor her lawyers were represented; it does not say who made this criticism. According to SCMP, her party is now banned in Bangladesh.

What is disputed

Reports differ on how the passport request was sent. Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera and SCMP, describes a letter to the government. The Hindu's source describes an email from Matrix Chambers. These may be the same communication; the reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not establish this. Accounts of what triggered the protests over job quotas also differ.

What each side says

According to Al Jazeera, Hasina told Reuters she intends to return and surrender before a court. In a written interview with The Hindu earlier this year, she said: "How could I personally order officers in those circumstances? The police handle such situations under their SOP." The court found her responsible for ordering the crackdown. India-based Awami League leaders have repeatedly said she will return as announced.

The reports do not include an on-the-record government response, a specific return date, or a reaction from India.

Analysis

The request places Bangladesh's authorities in a difficult position. Granting a passport could be read as facilitating the return of a person sentenced to death; refusing it could raise questions about her rights as a citizen. Hasina's stated willingness to surrender before a court may signal a legal strategy, but the reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not describe what would happen on her return, including whether a retrial is possible. Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, which Al Jazeera reports deteriorated sharply after 2024, could also be affected. Much depends on decisions not yet described in the reports.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.