Hasina, her MPs to lose red passports

The government has decided to cancel the red passports of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and all members of her parliament.

Ali Reza Siddiqui, additional secretary (Security and Immigration Division) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, told bdnews24.com on Wednesday that the decision was communicated verbally to the Department of Immigration and Passports following Hasina's resignation and the dissolution of the 12th parliament.

The department has already started working, he said. "We will formally notify the passport department on Thursday."

This decision affects those who were entitled to these passports but currently do not hold or are not in those positions.

He cited examples such as Hasina, members of parliament and her cabinet, those who were employed on a contractual basis and are now gone, and secretaries who have been retired.

However, Siddiqui said he does not have the current number of red passports being cancelled, noting that the passport department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have those figures.

Prime Minister Hasina resigned on Aug 5 in the face of a popular uprising led by students.