Ex-Bangladesh leader Hasina applies for passport in signal she’s ready for homecoming

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested on Monday a new passport and identity card so she can return from self-imposed exile in India, according to a letter seen by Reuters, her first ‌such communication since fleeing in 2024.

The request marks the clearest step by Hasina to act on her plan to return to Bangladesh in December, more than two years after a deadly uprising ended her long rule, raising the prospect of fresh political and legal tensions in a country where her party is now banned.

She has said she plans to return to surrender before a ⁠court, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced once various formalities were completed. ‌

Bangladesh’s war-crimes court sentenced her to death in November last year in her absence for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising. The United Nations has said nearly 1,400 people were killed.

Hasina denies any wrongdoing. She also has rejected the tribunal’s verdict and challenged the legitimacy of the trial.

“In view of the reported revocation of her existing Bangladeshi passport and ⁠national identity card by ⁠the interim government and other authorities, I respectfully request that you take the necessary steps to issue a new Bangladeshi passport and ‌National Identity Card for our client,” Hasina’s lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to Preeti Rahman, acting high commissioner at Bangladesh’s embassy in ‌New Delhi.

The letter ‌asked for the applications to be processed “expeditiously” on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality and in ‌accordance with “obligations arising under international human rights instruments”.

“This is a significant step towards her homecoming. 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,” said Abu Obaidha Arin, an aide to Hasina. “She is determined to return to Bangladesh by December, and she will undoubtedly return home.”

Hasina’s Awami League was the country’s largest party before it ⁠was banned following her fall. Many of her party colleagues have either been jailed or are in self-imposed exile in India or elsewhere.

Having ruled Bangladesh for 20 years as prime minister across multiple terms, Hasina still enjoys support among sections of the population, and a return could sharpen political divisions as the government in Dhaka seeks to restore stability after more than two years of upheaval.

On the other hand, it could improve Bangladesh’s strained ties with India, which deteriorated sharply after New Delhi gave her refuge.

On Thursday, Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh wanted Hasina to be handed over under an extradition treaty with India. India has declined to hand her over.

“We want Hasina to be handed over. She will be handed over. She is a terrorist. She is a fugitive. There is an active extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India,” he told reporters in Dhaka.