Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled Dhaka on Monday, is now facing a longer stay in New Delhi due to pending visa approval from British authorities. Hasina, 76, intended to fly to the UK after a brief stopover in India but her plans have been delayed as she seeks asylum in the UK. Following her departure from Bangladesh amid massive and deadly anti-government protests, the UK Home Office clarified its stance on asylum seekers.
“The UK has a proud record of providing protection to those in need. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge,” the Home Office told CNBC-TV18. It further emphasized, “Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.”
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hinted at an extended stay for Hasina in India during an all-party meeting convened by the Central government in New Delhi on Tuesday. He stated, “Right now we are only ensuring Sheikh Hasina settles down, let her recover and be comfortable to discuss her plans.”
Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka with her sister Sheikh Rehana around 2:30 pm on Monday. Rehana, who holds UK citizenship, accompanied her sister on the Bangladesh Air Forces’ C130J aircraft. They landed at the Indian Air Force base at Hindon in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, near Delhi, by early evening. Rehana’s daughter, Tulip Siddiq, is a member of the British Parliament for the Labour Party.
On Tuesday morning, the C-130J flight returned to Bangladesh without Hasina aboard. According to ANI, the aircraft carried seven military personnel but not the former prime minister.
This isn’t Hasina’s first refuge in India. In 1975, after the assassination of her father and Bangladesh’s founder, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina and her sister were secretly flown from Berlin to New Delhi. They lived for six years under the protection of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government at a safe house on Pandara Road.