Myanmar has granted a presidential pardon to 33 Bangladeshi nationals who were jailed on separate occasions for illegally entering the country. According to a statement from the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon, President U Htin Kyaw gave the executive order on May 25 after the embassy made several requests for their citizens’ release.
The 33 pardoned Bangladeshis started to return home on June 7, with the first batch of five men released from a jail in Tanintharyi Region, the embassy said.
The second group of nine fishermen, whose boat drifted into Myanmar waters in January this year, was transferred from Thandwe to Yangon for repatriation on June 12, said the Bangladesh Embassy.
The remaining 19 people are scheduled to be repatriated through the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on June 15 after the Bangladesh Consulate in Sittwe finalizes arrangements with both the Myanmar Border Guard Police and the Border Guard Bangladesh.
A similar pardon was extended to 92 Myanmar fishermen who strayed into Bangladesh waters last year. They were repatriated in December 2016.
Edited by Laignee Barron
