Dhaka, Jan. 28 -- Bangladesh has agreed to renew passports for 69,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Saudi Arabia, following sustained pressure from Riyadh, said foreign adviser Touhid Hossain on Wednesday, insisting that the move does not confer citizenship.

Talking to the reporters, the interim government's foreign affairs adviser acknowledged that past administrative failures and corruption had allowed large numbers of Rohingyas to travel abroad using Bangladeshi passports decades ago, when passports were issued by hand.

"Because of our own mistakes, many Rohingyas went to Saudi Arabia using Bangladeshi passports years ago," Hossain told journalists at the foreign ministry. "There were widespread allegations of corruption at t...