Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladeshi lawmaker Shahidul Islam Papul is being tried as a local resident in Kuwait.
Responding to a query, the minister said the issue of the arrest of Papul was not discussed at the official level during his official visit to Kuwait couple of days ago.
The minister was talking to journalists on his Kuwait visit.
But we heard from unofficial sources that he is facing trial as a local resident.
He recruited a number of people there from Bangladesh and the authorities are looking into the recruitment process, he said.
It is alleged in the Kuwait media that he offered bribe to some Kuwaiti officials for recruiting people but we are not informed anything about it officially. Neither Papul nor any of his family members took diplomatic passports which are issued to lawmakers, the minister informed.
The minister also mentioned that the decision on the reopening of Kuwait Labour market to foreign workers will be taken by the Kuwait authorities on Wednesday night.
Kuwait is a good friend of us and they praised the quality of Bangladeshi workers, the minister said.
Dr Momen offered the Kuwait government to build refineries in Bangladesh to take advantage of the location.
I told the Kuwait foreign minister that this would give them an advantage if the gulf sea would face tension.
Responding to a question the minister said that government had earlier decided to stop 4G mobile network in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar to prevent criminal activities there.
“But it faced opposition of the international NGOs, “ he added.
He made it clear that providing shelter to the refugees does not mean that Bangladesh is responsible for providing them with high living standard.
Our priority is to repatriate them to their homeland in Myanmar as soon as possible and after that they may avail the high standard of living in Myanmar, he added.
The minister said instability in the region would pose a threat to the investments in Rakhine made by countries like China, Japan, South Korea and India.
