Staff Correspondent

State Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Shofiqur Rahman Chowdhury said that they are yet to know about visa suspension of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Bangladeshi workers as the oil-rich Middle Eastern country hasn’t informed Dhaka anything formally in this regard.

“We haven’t received any written decision yet. We have contacted with our embassy in the UAE. Our ambassador there said the UAE hasn’t said anything about visa suspension. We have no information about the closure of this all important market. If you come to know anything, we will inform you,” the state minister said while briefing reporters at the ministry on Wednesday.

He also said the workers who staged demonstration in favour of quota reform movement in Dubai breaching the UAE’s law have tarnished the image of Bangladesh.

“They have damaged many government offices and establishments, including metro rail, in Bangladesh. Now they are working to shut the doors of our international labour markets,” the state minister said.

“They have tarnished the reputation of the country by organising protests in Dubai and received penalty,” he said, adding that they will not interfere about the convicted expatriates as it is an internal affair of the UAE.

A number of newspapers, online news portals and television channels published and aired news on the UAE’s suspension of visas for Bangladeshi workers in the last two days.

Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organisation, however, raised concern about the fairness and due process of the trial which sentenced 57 Bangladeshi protesters in the UAE.

“There is no way defendants can receive a fair trial when the investigation was launched and completed, trial commenced, and verdict rendered in less than 48 hours,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch.

According to Wakalat Anba’a al Emarat (WAM), the UAE’s official state news agency, the UAE handed lengthy prison sentence to 57 Bangladeshi expatriates for organising a protest reportedly supporting Bangladesh’s quota reform movement.

Three expatriate Bangladeshis were sentenced to life, 53 to 10 years and another expatriate to 11 years of imprisonment.

The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, strictly restricts any protests which can create social instability or instigate such instability or criticise its rulers. The country prohibits defamatory statements and write-ups and any activities that can demean any other state or cause danger to the bilateral relations is a punishable act.