Dhaka, Bangkok in touch over detainees

Bangladesh has sought “consular access” to verify the nationalities of the detainees in Thailand, 118 of whom claimed themselves to be Bangladeshis.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Sunday that they were the “victims of human trafficking”.

The minister was addressing the press on the just-concluded Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan from where he returned with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina around Saturday mid-night.

Secretary (bilateral) Mustafa Kamal supplemented the minister at the press briefing, saying there would no problem in bringing its nationals back after the verification because of Bangladesh’s “smooth” relations with Thailand.

He said the Thai authorities had informed them that some 118 people had identified themselves as Bangladeshi citizens among the 134 people rescued in two groups.

“They (Thai authorities) are interviewing them in different detention centres. In the first group of the 53 people, 38 claimed they were Bangladeshi nationals, while the others said they were from Myanmar.

“In the second group of 81, all except one, who was from Myanmar, said they were Bangladesh citizens.”

He said the Bangladesh embassy in Bangkok had good relations with the Thai authorities. “We have brought back nationals earlier. So there would be no problem this time, too.”

Earlier, the BBC had reported that the men had been abducted and taken to Thailand to be sold as ‘slaves’.

They had apparently been promised well-paid jobs before being drugged, bound, and kidnapped.

The report, however, identified the Burmese nationals as Rohingyas, a largely stateless Muslim minority from western Myanmar.