Bangladesh's domestic laws have provisions that are intended to prohibit the unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of liberty of all persons including refugees and asylum seekers. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh incorporates various fundamental rights including protection of personal liberty and safeguard person from arbitrary arrest and detention. The legal framework of the country does not have a distinct set of laws or procedures for immigration related detention, and these immigration related cases are regulated like the other cases. The substantive matter related to immigration are dealt by the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passport Act, 1920, and some other laws and orders. As stated above, due to not having a different set of procedural law related to immigration, the cases including arrest, detention, custody, trial, release of refugees and asylum seekers are governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 which is also applied in other matters related to criminal law. Alongside these, the Penal Code, 1860 provides a certain degree of protection from unlawful deprivation of liberty by criminalizing unlawful confinement and providing punishment for the offence. The Supreme Court of the country is also proactive in prohibiting unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of liberty by issuing regular guidelines and entertaining writ for violation of fundamental rights. However, the Special Powers Act, 1974, which is termed more as a ‘repressive law’ through its provisions, allowed for the legal justification of arbitrary arrests. 

As discussed, arrest and detention procedures in Bangladesh are regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898. Section 46 of the code has set out the procedure of arrest that is by touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested. The code further restricts applying more restraint than is necessary to prevent the persons’ escape. It allows arrest on suspicion and credible information, followed by detention in police custody as outlined in Section 54 and 167 of the CrPC. As per Section 61 of the CrPC, a person who is arrested must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours, excluding travel time.  

In addition, The Penal Code, 1860 prohibits wrongful confinement of a person. It defines wrongful confinement as ‘Whoever wrongfully restrains any person in such a manner as to prevent that person from proceeding beyond certain circumscribing limits, is said "wrongfully to confine" that person.’, and provides a punishment with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five hundred taka, or with both.

However, a more repressive law, the Special Powers Act, 1974 allows preventive detention of any person. For example, Section 3 of the Special Powers Act, stipulates that the Government can issue an order to detain a person or require their removal from Bangladesh if it deems necessary to prevent prejudicial acts. The Act provides an exception for Bangladeshi citizens who cannot be ordered to be removed from the territory of Bangladesh. However, the detainee must be informed of the grounds of detention, and they have the right to make representation against the detention. The 1974 Special Powers Act's broad application allowed for the legal justification of arbitrary arrests. Usually, the detainees are detained for at least 30 days, and then for an additional 30 or 60 days. Without official evidence, detainees may be kept for up to 120 days under the Special Powers Act. The constitution in this regard provides the limitation of six months for preventive detention. 

The High Court Division of Bangladesh issued a guideline for arrest without warrant under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 in the judgement of the case, Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) vs. Bangladesh and others (Writ Petition no. 3806 of 1998) which states: 

• No police officer shall arrest a person under Section 54 of the CrPC for the purpose of detaining him under Section 3 of the Special Powers Act, 1974.
• A police officer shall disclose his identity and if demanded, shall show his identity card to the person arrested and to the persons present at the time of arrest.
• He shall record the reasons for the arrest and other particulars in a separate register till a special diary is prescribed.
• A police officer shall furnish reasons of arrest to the detained person within three hours of bringing him to the police station. An arrested person should be allowed to consult a lawyer of his choice or meet his relatives.
• If a police officer finds any marks of injury on the person arrested, he shall record the reasons for such injury and shall take the person to the nearest hospital or government doctor for treatment and shall obtain a certificate from the attending doctor. If the person is not arrested from his residence or place of business, he shall inform a relative of the person over the phone, or through a messenger, within one hour of bringing him to the police station. 

On top of all, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh provides for various fundamental rights, including the right to protection of personal liberty under Article 32. In addition, Article 33 specifically safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention and stipulates that a person cannot be detained beyond 24 hours without being produced before a magistrate, and that detention without trial is only permissible under specific circumstances, such as a declaration of emergency. Both the above referenced Articles of the Constitution of Bangladesh are applicable to anyone irrespective of their status in Bangladesh, including refugees and asylum seekers. In case of violation of any of these rights, under Article 102 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, detainees can file a writ in the High Court Division to challenge unlawful detention and seek release. 

While Bangladesh's Constitution and Laws do provide for protections against unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of liberty, the practical application and enforcement of these laws can sometimes fall short, leading to challenges and concerns regarding consistency with human rights. Moreover, as Bangladesh does not have any specific legislation in place regulating issues related to refugees and asylum-seekers, the provisions mentioned above are enforceable against refugees and asylum-seekers in Bangladesh. 

In the case of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) v. Government of Bangladesh (Writ Petition no. 10504 of 2016), the Court observed that the defendant (a Rohingya refugee) was detained in the prison beyond his prison term that was in violation of Article 32 of the Constitution, which guarantees every individual, including non-citizens, the right to liberty. In this case, a Rohingya man was convicted in 2011 for unlawful entry into Bangladesh under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act 1946, four years after his arrest on 29 May 2007. The Trial Magistrate ordered that the convict's time in prison following his arrest be deducted from his five-year sentence, indicating that he should have been released in 2012. Despite this, however, he remained jailed until the High Court’s judgment on 31 May 2017, which ordered he be immediately released to the custody of UNHCR. 

As noted above, the application of the Foreigners Act 1946 frequently resulted in violations of right to liberty of refugees for a considerable amount of time. After being discovered outside the boundaries of the refugee camps, where the Bangladeshi government instructs them to remain, some Rohingya refugees have been arrested and punished under the Foreigners Act, even though this trend has lessened recently. 307 Rohingya refugees were detained under the Act in 2021 because of immigration restrictions or their lack of legal status. There has been a significant reduction in detention cases after UNHCR ‘s advocacy efforts and regular engagement with judiciary, law enforcement agencies and other relevant actors.