"'July expatriate warriors': Families of migrant workers stage sit-in demanding rehabilitation" 22 June 2025

Families of Bangladeshi migrant workers who returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries staged a sit-in on Sunday (22 June), demanding rehabilitation for those affected by the 2024 July Uprising...

During the event, they presented four demands, which include the immediate release of 25 detainees and other migrants arrested in cases filed over last year's Anti-discrimination Student Movement...They also sought state recognition of affected migrants as "July Expatriate Warriors."...Ensuring the rehabilitation of returnee migrants and inclusion of all migrants affected by the same case in the official state list were also part of their demands...

The statement further noted that although Adviser on Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Asif Nazrul assured them of their rehabilitation, no action has been taken...

The migrants alleged that although 189 individuals were released from prison after the movement, 25 Bangladeshis remain detained in Al Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, and over a hundred more are being held in various CID offices across the UAE...Expatriates who were forced to return from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries after joining protests in solidarity with Bangladesh's Anti-discrimination Student Movement have been demanding government rehabilitation and assistance in returning to their former workplaces...

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