Sheikh Hasina requests new passport before return to Bangladesh
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Ghanaian Chronicle
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport and identity card to prepare for her return to Bangladesh from India. She says she plans to appear before a court in December, while the government examines the legality of her request, according to Reuters.
Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh living in exile in India, has asked Bangladeshi authorities for a new passport and identity card so that she can return to her country. In a letter cited by Reuters, she asks that her request be processed quickly on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the foreign and law ministries were examining the request, including the legal grounds allowing Sheikh Hasina to obtain the documents, reports Bangladeshi daily New Age, cited by Reuters. The leader told Reuters that she intended to appear before a Bangladeshi court upon her return, while her aides said on Monday that the date would be announced after several formalities had been completed.
Sheikh Hasina has been living in India for two years and has promised to return to Bangladesh in December. Bangladesh’s judiciary sentenced her to death in absentia in November 2025 for ordering the suppression of the 2024 student protests, during which up to 1,400 people may have been killed, according to UN estimates.
The request comes as Deputy Foreign Minister Humaiun Kobir said the previous week that Bangladesh wanted Sheikh Hasina returned under the extradition treaty concluded with India. New Delhi has so far refused to hand her over to the Bangladeshi authorities.
