DHAKA, April 9, 2020 (BSS) – Foreign minister Dr A K Abdul Momen said
Bangladesh will bring back its nationals stranded in different countries due
to deadly COVID-19 pandemic whenever the situation permits.
“If required, we will bring back them (Bangladeshi nationals) … Wherever
we are getting the chances, we are bringing them back home,” he told newsmen
after holding an inter-ministerial meeting at the Foreign Ministry here
today.
Momen said it has been difficult to bring back Bangladeshi citizens from
India as the neighbouring country remains in a nationwide lockdown, scheduled
to end after April 14.
Earlier, the foreign ministry declared that 2,500 Bangladeshi nationals are
now stranded in India.
Momen said they are keeping in touch with all Bangladesh missions abroad
for ensuring welfare of the expatriate Bangladeshis.
Expatriate welfare and overseas employment minister M Imran Ahmed and state
minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam, state minister for disaster
management and relief Dr Enamur Rahman and secretaries to the relevant
ministries were present at the meeting.
During the meeting, Momen said they decided that the government will send
letters to different countries expressing Dhaka’s gratitude for their help to
Bangladesh missions and expatriate Bangladeshis.
The letters will be jointly signed by the Bangladesh foreign minister and
expatriate welfare minister.
Momen said they decided to take some specific steps for minimizing the
sufferings of the expatriate Bangladeshis in different badly corona-hit
countries around the world.
Besides, the foreign minister said, they also discussed about proposals of
some countries over sending expert medical teams and COVID-19 treatment
equipment to Bangladesh in aid of the government’s ongoing efforts in
containing the outbreak of coronavirus.
Earlier on Sunday, after holding another inter-ministerial meeting with
expatriate welfare ministry, the foreign minister said some four to five
Middle Eastern countries along with Maldives have informed the government
that many Bangladeshi workers have been jobless there due to Covid-19
pandemic.
He said those countries expressed their concern over the fate of mainly the
undocumented Bangladeshi workers there and urged Dhaka to take back home.