Staff Correspondent:

The Saudi government has urged to renew the passports of 69,000 Rohingya citizens who went to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh after independence.

In this regard, a delegation led by the Deputy Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia held bilateral talks with the Home Minister of Bangladesh.

The meeting was held at a hotel in the capital on Sunday (May 12).

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters after the meeting that, “After the country’s independence, some Rohingyas from Bangladesh went to Saudi Arabia. We don’t know how many there are. But Saudi Arabia authorities told us the number 69 thousand.”

“According to Saudi Arabian rules they send back people if they don’t have a passport. In that case, we made an agreement with Saudi Arabia that they will not send back the Rohingyas, instead their papers will be renewed,” said the minister.

Home Minister said, “Why are we going slow in this regard? And they came to see if we had any problems.”

The Saudi delegation proposed a prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries. It would be nice if Saudi move with the agreement, Kamal further added.