Sheikh Hasina seeks new passport as allies outline December return to Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina is seeking new identity documents as she prepares for a possible return in December, according to members of her party living in exile. Her allies told the Guardian she was serious about going back, more than two years after an uprising forced her from power.

A UK lawyer representing Hasina wrote to the Bangladesh high commission on Monday to request a replacement passport and national identity card, according to a letter reviewed by the Guardian. An Awami League leader in Kolkata, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to address the media, said she would seek a travel pass if the passport request was refused.

Hasina has lived in Delhi since fleeing to India in August 2024 amid mass protests against her authoritarian government. In November 2025, a Bangladeshi tribunal convicted her of crimes against humanity and imposed a death sentence for a crackdown on a student uprising in which an estimated 1,400 people were killed. She denies the mass murder and crimes against humanity charges and disputes the tribunal’s legitimacy.

Any return would come with the likelihood of immediate arrest. The Awami League remains banned, and thousands of its members are imprisoned. Bangladesh’s government said this week that it regards Hasina as a terrorist and would permit her return only through a prisoner exchange it considers acceptable under the extradition treaty with India. The tribunal’s chief prosecutor dismissed her stated intention to return as a political stunt.

Bangladesh has pressed India to extradite Hasina since her conviction. The Indian government, which maintained close relations with her administration, has ignored those requests, adding strain to bilateral ties. Hasina first discussed returning in August, and exiled party leaders said several other figures had already travelled back in anticipation.

Analysts see the proposed return as an effort to rebuild support and unsettle the government of prime minister Tarique Rahman, which took power following February’s election, described as Bangladesh’s first democratic vote in decades. The administration has faced inflation and recent demonstrations that closed garment factories, difficulties the Awami League hopes to exploit politically.

Hasina retains considerable backing among thousands of party activists inside Bangladesh, many of whom have gone underground. Another senior Awami League leader based in India said those in exile planned to follow her home despite possible imprisonment. Many associates from her 15 years in office have faced serious criminal charges and received lengthy sentences in absentia since her government collapsed.

Former MP Mustaque Ahmed Ruhi was among senior party figures who returned in recent months. Police arrested him immediately after his arrival in September, and he faces prosecution over an alleged murder during the 2024 uprising. Meanwhile, exiled Awami League leaders have continued holding meetings in Kolkata and travelling to Delhi when summoned to meet Hasina.

Hasina also confirmed her intention to return in an email exchange with the Associated Press this week, saying she would prefer to face death in Bangladesh among her own people if that were her fate.