The government has taken an initiative to deport around 11,000 foreigners staying in Bangladesh without valid documents, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said.
The minister disclosed the matter at the secretariat following a meeting of the cabinet committee on law and order on Thursday, reports UNB.
The authorities have already enlisted these foreigners who do not have valid visas or passports, he said, adding some of them are currently imprisoned for their involvement in crimes.
Although their passports expired, they never tried to return home. Even the embassies of their respective countries in Dhaka did not respond when the authorities concerned contacted them to discuss the issue, Kamal said.
That is why the government has taken the initiative to send them back to their countries, he added.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, also the president of the cabinet committee on law and order, echoed the home minister’s remarks, saying: “Our intelligence agencies have worked successfully to identify the illegal foreigners.”
Mozammel also said the process of deporting some foreigners appeared to be complicated as they do not have any money. Besides, there are some countries that do not have embassies here.
The cabinet committee recommended allocation of some money in this regard, he added.
