Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants (BCSM), a platform of 19 civil society organisations, on Thursday demanded immediate and unconditional release of detained Bangladeshi fishermen in Qatar.
The platform expressed deep concerns on the arrest of four Bangladeshi fishermen by Qatari authorities and their sentencing of three months’ imprisonment with hefty fines and deportation to Bangladesh.
It has been learned from Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) that the Bangladeshi fishermen did not have access to translators during their trial and were earlier held in prison for at least four months, according to a press release, issued by BCSM.
Professional Fishermen Society (FPS) of Bahrain and BHRWS also urged Qatari government to release the workers.
It was confirmed by BHRWS that at the time of their arrest, the expatriates were fishing in the water of Bahrain territory.
It was also alleged that Qatar has endangered the health of these detained men as Covid-19 has already been detected in the country’s central prison.
It is also disturbing to note that while several Bahraini nationals, who were detained for the same offence, were released by the Qatar authorities; the Bangladeshi nationals were detained, prosecuted and imprisoned.
Earlier, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued reports about the misery of Asian workers in Qatar and the Covid-19 outbreak in the prison.
“Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge Bangladesh embassy in Doha is yet to make headway in securing their release,” BCSM also mentioned in its press release.
As these fishermen did not get fair trial as alleged by BHRWS, the BCSM is demanding for their immediate and unconditional release.
“We find Qatari authorities’ discrimination in their treatment between Bahraini and Bangladeshi nationals unacceptable. We urge the Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take immediate steps to ensure that these workers are released by Qatar,” it said.
