DHAKA — Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally requested a new passport to facilitate her return from exile, two years after a mass uprising forced her from power. The appeal, sent in a letter to Bangladesh’s top diplomat in London, marks a significant escalation in her stated determination to return home by December.
Hasina’s counsel urged the diplomatic mission to take necessary action to issue her a passport and national identity card. “This is a significant step toward her homecoming,” said Abu Obaidha Arin, an aide to the former leader. “Having had her documents revoked by the previous regime, Her Excellency looks forward to reclaiming her fundamental rights as a Bangladeshi citizen and receiving the necessary documents. She is determined to return to Bangladesh by December, and she will undoubtedly return home.”
The interim government has dismissed the request, maintaining its pursuit of extradition from India, where Hasina has resided since the military flew her out of Dhaka on August 5, 2024. Junior Foreign Minister Humaiun Kobir reiterated Thursday that Bangladesh intends to secure her handover under a bilateral extradition treaty, labeling her a terrorist and a fugitive. India has so far declined to comply.
A special tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in 2025 for crimes against humanity, holding her responsible for ordering a crackdown that the United Nations estimates killed nearly 1,400 people. Hasina denies the charges and rejects the tribunal’s verdict as illegitimate. In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, she vowed to return in December “at any cost.”
Since her ouster, an interim administration has governed the country and held a general election in February. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from participating, and Tarique Rahman, the son of her longtime political rival, won a landslide victory. The government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the passport application.