Bangladesh plans to release more than 20 foreign prisoners shortly. Six foreign prisoners were freed last month, said a report.
Six foreign prisoners – four Burmese, one North Korean and one Tanzanian were released last one month after their jail term of more than 15 years came to an end.
The six prisoners were accepted by relatives and lawyers who agreed to provide them shelter in Bangladesh.
According to a prison source, in Bangladesh there are 878 foreign prisoners from 11 countries. Among them, 286 foreign nationals' jail terms expired long ago. The jail term of 30 prisoners expired 15 years ago while 80 others completed their jail term five years ago.
Sources said of the foreign prisoners, 515 are Burmese, 330 are Indians, 12 are Pakistanis, seven are Nepalese, five are Tanzanians, two are Kenyans, three are Malaysians and one each are from Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Liberia and Hungary.
In Cox's Bazaar prison, there are 105 Burmese prisoners who have been released and are waiting to return to Burma since 2006 but the Burmese authorities are refusing to accept them.
The concerned Bangladesh authorities could not collect information about the foreign prisoners – mostly Indians and Burmese, who do not have any passports, the source said.
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