DHAKA, April 15, 2020 (BSS) – The government will provide loans up to Taka 700,000 from 500,000 upon return of jobless expatriate workers here from different countries amid COVID-19 pandemic to enable them to pursue viable economic activities especially in agriculture sector.
Besides, every returnee will receive Taka 5,000 on arrival at the airport while the family of each expatriate worker, who died of coronavirus, will get Taka 300,000. The decisions were made at foreign ministry here today at its third inter-ministerial meeting over repatriation of stranded Bangladeshi citizens abroad amid COVID-19.
Foreign minister Dr A K Abdul Momen presided over the meeting while welfare and overseas employment minister M Imran Ahmed, state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam, principal staff officer of Armed Forces Division (AFD), secretaries to the relevant ministries and Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman were present at the meeting.
During the meeting, a range of issues relating to repatriation, nationality verification, quarantine, relief for the expatriates, coordination among departments concerned, sending medicines and medical equipment to friendly countries, post repatriation preparedness were discussed elaborately.
The AFD in coordination with health and family welfare ministry has been working to prepare quarantine centres at different places in Dhaka and other districts with a capacity of around 4,000 persons for institutional quarantine.
The foreign affairs ministry will coordinate with the CAAB for smooth Airport reception and landing permission of special flights carrying Bangladesh nationals from different countries.
It was informed at the meeting that the UAE has expressed keen interest to import food items from Bangladesh and work is underway to coordinate with all concerned to materialize this.
As a goodwill gesture, Armed Forces Division sent a medical team equipped with medical gadgets and medicine to Kuwait for helping the oil-rich middle-eastern nation in this critical moment of pandemic.
Besides, Bangladesh is also sending food stuffs, medicines, medical equipment and other items to Maldives while a consignment of medicines and medical items will be sent to Bhutan shortly.
The meeting also decided to send similar support to other countries in need.
On April 9, at the second ministerial meeting Foreign minister Momen said Bangladesh will bring back its nationals stranded in different countries due to deadly COVID-19 pandemic whenever the situation permits.
Earlier on April 5, after holding the inter-ministerial meeting, 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 them back to home.