UAE arrests Bangladeshis for protests on Emirati soil

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates said Saturday it arrested several Bangladeshi expatriates for protesting against their government on UAE soil, where demonstrations are banned.

Protests have swept Bangladesh this month against a quota system for civil service jobs that critics say benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15 years of autocratic rule. The near-daily marches escalated this week into civil unrest which left more than 120 people dead. A statement from the UAE’s public prosecutor’s office carried by state news agency WAM did not specify the number of Bangladeshis detained for demonstrating.

It alleged that they “committed crimes of gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest”. “The public prosecution has ordered their pre-trial detention pending further investigations,” the statement said, accusing the suspects of endangering the interests and security of the UAE and disrupting public order.