Deportation decision on Bangladesh embassy vandals has not yet been taken

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‘Action in line with Kuwaiti laws’

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 21: The Ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait, S.M. Abul Kalam said the action taken by the Kuwaiti authorities to deport the socalled ‘vandals’ – a group of agitated Bangladeshi workers – who were allegedly involved in physical assaults of staff inside the embassy, is in line with Kuwaiti laws which should at all times be respected, reports Al-Qabas daily.
However, Abul Kalam said in a press statement yesterday: “I have no knowledge about the deportation of the intruders but the Kuwaiti authorities intervened in time and ended the protests that led to the destruction of sections of the building after it was stormed by a number of workers, because they had not received their salary for three months (Oct, Nov and Dec 2018) by the company hiring them.

The ambassador said, “I had a meeting with a small group of them inside the embassy and identified their problems, including the arrears and residency renewal,” and conveyed a request to the workers’ representatives to fulfill their demand through consultation with the company officials.

For his part, a security source familiar with the Ministry of Interior said no decision, so far, has been taken to deport the Bangladeshi workers who demonstrated in front of the embassy of their country last week. The source added that if a decision is taken for deporting them, it will be implemented after they receive all the rights.

Later, the ambassador had another meeting with the manager of the company on the same day at his office asking him to address the issues raised by the Bangladeshi workers.

Ambassador Abul Kalam said the company representative assured him of disbursing the arrears by February 5 and he also obtained a written statement from him to resolve the workers’ issues. When the company representative was leaving the embassy, some of the workers stopped him and got engaged in a scuffle.

At one stage, some of the workers entered the embassy and ransacked its furniture indiscriminately despite the ambassador’s assurances and requests to return to work.

On request, members of law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and picked up around 150 workers for questioning, said the embassy sources. The embassy has also conveyed the overall situation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka, said an official.

Foreign Minister Dr A.K. Abdul Momen has urged all Bangladesh missions abroad and expatriate Bangladeshis to take proper steps to avoid the repetition of any incident like what happened inside the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait on Thursday. “Local police brought the situation under control and picked up some workers. The situation now remains fully peaceful,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Friday night.

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