JATIYA SANGSAD BHABAN (DHAKA): A total of 21 Bangladeshi convicts will not face execution in oil-rich gulf countries Kuwait and United Arab Emirates.

Execution of eight other Bangladeshis remains halted in the two countries and some 21 others were also awarded death penalty in five different countries.

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on Thursday made the disclosure while addressing parliament in response to a question from lawmaker Haji M Selim on Thursday.

Mosharraf said some 50 Bangladeshi nationals were awarded with capital punishment by different courts of five countries for killing charges.

Of them, 23 Bangladeshis were awarded death penalty in Dubai of UEA, while 12 in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia each, and one in Abu Dhabi of UEA, Bahrain and Singapore each, he added.

Mosharraf said the government moved to make comprise between the families of the victims and the convicts under the supervision of Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB) assisted by local authorities.

In the mean time, the courts concerned either suspended or exempted execution of 29 out of 50 convicts--19 of 21 in Dubai and 10 of 12 convicts in Kuwait.

Bangladesh embassies have already sent apology letters to the victims’ family on the matter, the minister added.

Mosharraf said the government has also taken initiatives to make compromise between rest of the victim’s and the convicts’ families to reduce the death penalty.

All kinds of possible legal assistant are being provided to the convicts through embassies at the countries concerned, he added.

Beside, trial of 34 Bangladeshis on murder charges is underway at seven different countries--15 in Dubai of UEA, 10 in Saudi Arabia, three in Oman and Qatar each, and one in Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain each.

A court in Singapore sentenced a Bangladeshi worker to death and later commuted it to lifetime imprisonment considering the convicts’ plea, the House was told.

BDST: 1935 HRS, NOV 20, 2014