A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced dozens of Bangladeshi nationals, including three to life imprisonment, over protests against their home government in the Gulf country. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal handed 10-year prison sentences to 53 Bangladeshi nationals and an 11-year term to another individual, in addition to the three life imprisonments. Following their prison terms, the court ordered the deportation of the Bangladeshis from the UAE.
The state-owned Emirates News Agency, WAM, reported that a witness confirmed the defendants gathered and organized large-scale marches in several streets of the UAE to protest decisions made by the Bangladeshi government. Authorities in the UAE had ordered an investigation and an expedited trial of the arrested Bangladeshi nationals.
The protests in the UAE were a response to weeks of demonstrations in Bangladesh over a quota system reserving up to 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. The UAE's attorney general's office indicted the Bangladeshis on charges including gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest, obstructing law enforcement, causing harm to others, and damaging property.
Bangladeshi nationals form the UAE’s third-largest expatriate community, with many being low-paid laborers supporting their families back home. The Emirates, with a population of over 9.2 million, is predominantly made up of expatriates, with Emiratis accounting for only 10% of the population. Political parties and labor unions are banned in the UAE, where broad laws severely restrict freedom of speech and most major local media outlets are state-owned or state-affiliated.
