By: Hafizur Rahman
Dhaka, Bangladesh – July 25, 2025
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has clarified that while his country issues passports to members of the displaced Rohingya community residing in Pakistan, it does not grant them citizenship. The statement was made during Naqvi’s official visit to Dhaka—his first high-level trip to Bangladesh since assuming office.
“We are not giving them citizenship,” Naqvi said. “But we are giving them passports with a different code or serial number so that they can be identified as Rohingya.”
His comments came following a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh’s Home Minister Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, according to a statement released by the Bangladeshi Home Ministry.
The clarification addresses long-standing ambiguity surrounding the legal status of more than 400,000 Rohingya residing in Pakistan—primarily in the port city of Karachi. Pakistan hosts the third-largest Rohingya population in the world, after Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Naqvi noted that the passports issued to Rohingya in Pakistan carry special serial numbers—marking their distinct identity and intended solely to facilitate resettlement in third countries, not to confer nationality or voting rights.
Rohingya: Trapped Between Recognition and Statelessness
For decades, Rohingya families in Pakistan—descendants of those who fled persecution in Myanmar as early as the 1940s—have lived in a legal gray zone. Many have grown up in Pakistan, speak Urdu and Bengali, and work in informal labor markets. However, they remain stateless and excluded from citizenship, education, and healthcare systems.
Rights groups argue that issuing travel documents without accompanying rights reinforces structural statelessness—denying Rohingya any sense of belonging in the countries where they have lived for generations.
“These passports help them leave, not live,” said a Karachi-based Rohingya rights activist. “They are still invisible in Pakistan.”
Bangladesh’s Response and Regional Diplomacy
During the bilateral meeting, Home Minister Jahangir Alam Chowdhury reiterated Bangladesh’s long-standing appeal for international support in resolving the protracted Rohingya crisis.
“Bangladesh is hosting 1.3 million Rohingya for the sake of humanity. For a developing country, this is an enormous burden,” he said, urging Pakistan to support safe, voluntary repatriation efforts.
The two ministers also discussed a range of bilateral issues, including counterterrorism, narcotics control, cybercrime, and police training. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for visa-on-arrival access for diplomatic and official passport holders—suspended since the 1971 Liberation War—is reportedly close to finalization.
Additionally, Bangladesh is preparing to open a new embassy complex in Islamabad, signaling cautious steps toward normalized relations.
Naqvi’s trip marks the first high-level Pakistani delegation visit to Bangladesh since Hina Rabbani Khar’s foreign ministerial visit in 2012. Analysts see this visit as a diplomatic reset, with both sides exploring new areas of cooperation while navigating historical tensions.
Dear Sir, Good afternoon,
Thank you very much for Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to visit in Bangladesh for issuing passports to displaced members of the Rohingya community for third-country settlement that will be better for Rohingya future life and new generations lives.
I would like to inform you that please I earnestly requesting urgently open resettlement processing for Rohingya Refugees that will be better for Rohingya Refugee’s, I hope. Rohingya Refugees can do work there and they can earn money in third countries and stay with family members peacefully. In Bangladesh Camps day by day increasing kidnapping, raping, killing, murdering each other etc… only for no income and peace in camps. No income No peace. Without income very difficulties to raising up, maintaining family members in Bangladesh Camps. No income rights, No Refugee’s Rights, No freedom, No higher education rights, No proper human rights, No disability children rights, women and men, No vulnerable family members rights, etc…. . Why didn’t understand UN, UNHCR, IOM, IRC, UNICEF, Bangladesh, international communities and all super countries? You have rights to provide Rohingya Muslim’s citizenship Rights and dignity.
Durable solutions is very important for Rohingya Refugees in this moment because Myanmar Arkhan (Rakhine) State is not safe zone. Myanmar Junta and AA not return our Citizenship Rights. Myanmar Junta and (Mok Bagee) AA day by day killing, raping, kidnapping, murdering, burn, torturing etc.. Rohingya innocent, minority Muslims people in Myanmar. Rohingyas are genocide surviver people. AA and Myanmar Junta religion discrimination upon Rohingya innocent people. But Rohingya’s original Motherland is Arkhan (Rakhine) State in Myanmar. Why did deny Rohingya ethnicity minority Muslim’s citizenship Rights AA and Myanmar Junta? ICC, ICJ, UN, UNHCR, International communities, Bangladesh, Pakistan and all super countries need to solve Rohingyas solution urgently and take action against both groups urgently.
Where did go humanitarian aid? No need any relief in the world largest Bangladesh Rohingya Refugee’s camps but we need urgent our solutions. Please urgent grant Rohingya Refugees resettlement rights or give citizenship rights or reparation us with our full Citizenship rights with dignity because we don’t want to spending time in Bangladesh Refugee’s camps for a second. Bangladesh Camps is becoming poison, venom, virus for Rohingya Refugees. We don’t getting any peace in Bangladesh camps and many difficulties to maintaining family members in the world largest Bangladesh refugee camps in Tarpaulin shelter. In the rainy season we wetting, in the hot season we burn in the Cold season we die but we can’t suffering Refugee’s life long time? Now, urgently repatriation us or give citizenship rights or resettlement.
Thanks your very much for all of in the bottom of my heart.