Ousted Bangladesh leader asks for new passport to come home

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked her government in New Delhi to issue a new passport on Monday. The request aims to help her leave her current exile in India. She was forced from power in Bangladesh two years ago after a mass uprising.

Hasina’s legal team in London sent the letter to Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission. The firm, Matrix Chambers, asked that officials process the application quickly. They cited Hasina’s nationality and international human rights obligations as reasons for the request. Her aides said she had lost her identification documents under the previous regime.

Abu Obaidha Arin, an aide to Hasina, called the request a major step toward her return. He told The Associated Press that Hasina looks forward to reclaiming her rights as a citizen. Arin stated she is determined to be back in Bangladesh by December.

The current government in Dhaka has a different plan. Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said on Thursday that Bangladesh wants India to hand Hasina over. He pointed to an active extradition treaty between the two countries. India has so far declined to turn her over.

Kobir described Hasina as a terrorist and a fugitive. He told reporters that she will be handed over. The government previously dismissed the idea that she needed new identification to come home. They preferred the legal route of extradition.

Hasina fled to India after student-led protests forced her from power on August 5, 2024. A special tribunal in 2025 sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity. The court ruled she ordered a crackdown that left hundreds dead and thousands injured. The United Nations estimates the death toll at nearly 1,400 people.

Hasina denies any wrongdoing. She rejected the tribunal’s verdict and challenged the trial’s legitimacy. An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus held an election in February. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from running. Tarique Rahman won the election in a landslide.