Over 100 Awami League leaders seek asylum in UK

Bangla Press Desk:  Thousands of leaders and activists of the Awami League have left the country and moved to various countries following the mass uprising that led to the fall of the party’s government.

Bangladesh’s political landscape underwent dramatic changes after the Awami League government was toppled in the July 2024 mass uprising. In the aftermath of the government’s collapse, many party leaders and activists left the country. Among them, the highest number of political asylum seekers are reported to be in the United Kingdom.

According to party sources, several hundred Awami League leaders and activists — including former ministers, former whips, former members of parliament and central leaders — are currently staying in the UK after seeking political asylum.

Sources within the UK Awami League said that a number of top leaders have applied for political asylum in Britain, including presidium member and former minister for fisheries and livestock Abdur Rahman; organisational secretary and former whip Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan; and law affairs secretary and former minister for housing and public works Sh M Rezaul Karim. The list also includes former organisational secretary and former state minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, and former state minister for rural development and cooperatives Abdul Wadud Dara.

Among the former MPs currently in the UK are former Sunamganj-1 MP Advocate Ranjit Sarker and former Habiganj MP Abu Zahir. Party sources said several other former MPs have also applied for political asylum.

Influential leaders at the local level who are reported to be in the UK include Sunamganj District Awami League president and former district council chairman Nurul Huda Mukut; Cumilla North District Awami League general secretary Roshan Ali Master; Sylhet Metropolitan Awami League joint general secretary Bidhan Kumar Shah; organisational secretary Saleh Ahmed Selim; and Arman Ahmed Shiplu, son of late Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran and an organisational secretary of the metropolitan Awami League.

Party sources said that, in addition to central leaders, many top figures from district, metropolitan, upazila and unit levels have applied for political asylum in the UK. Several hundred leaders and activists of affiliated and associate bodies, including Jubo League and Swechchhasebak League, have also submitted asylum applications to the British government.

However, the asylum process has not yet been fully completed.

Relevant sources said that only a handful of applicants have so far received temporary asylum or initial protection. The fate of the remaining applications will be decided by UK courts and immigration authorities. Each asylum application is being assessed individually.

Commenting on the matter, UK Awami League general secretary Syed Sajedur Rahman Faruk told the media that the fall of the government had created extreme uncertainty for Awami League leaders and activists within the country, forcing many to leave due to security risks.

“By our count, between 15 and 20 leaders at the level of former ministers, former MPs and former mayors are currently in political asylum in the UK,” he said. “In addition, another 10 to 15 top central leaders and several hundred leaders and activists from different levels are staying here.”

Former state minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment and Sylhet District Awami League president Shafiqul Rahman Chowdhury said that only two or three of the Awami League leaders currently in the UK had been British citizens beforehand. He noted that those who surrendered British citizenship to contest elections in Bangladesh may no longer be citizens, but can still reside permanently in the UK as residents.

Speaking to the media, Shafiqul Rahman Chowdhury said, “After 5 August, only three leaders were already based in the UK. Everyone else who is now in Britain has applied for political asylum.”

He added that the list includes former ministers, former state ministers, former MPs and top party leaders, and estimated that the total number of Awami League leaders and activists who have sought refuge in the UK could run into several hundred.

Responding to a question, he said the British government traditionally considers humanitarian grounds and that legal status is mandatory to remain in the country. “Those who came here to save their lives had no other option but to apply for political asylum,” he said.

BP/SP