DHAKA, April 23, 2020 (BSS) – The foreign ministry so far facilitated
repatriation of 4422 foreigners living here while brought back 1799
Bangladeshi citizens who have been stranded in different countries due to
flight suspension amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bangladeshi citizens including pilgrims, students, tourists, patients
and businessmen were brought back from China, India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Oman and Turkey, a foreign ministry press release said here
today.
It said missions of Bhutan, Malaysia, the USA, Japan, Russia, Germany,
Canada, Australia, Maldives, Turkey, the UK, Singapore and some other
European countries here facilitated arranging chartered flights to take their
citizens who opted to reunite with their family members back home in this
crisis period.
In most cases regarding overseas bound chartered flights, it said, the
passengers are of Bangladeshi origin foreign citizens while others who left
here mostly worked in various development projects and other professions
whose projects are currently suspended.
It also said that the foreign ministry has taken a range of measures
following the outbreak of Coronavirus in December 2019 under the overall
guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the critical moment of the
coronavirus outbreak.
The ministry had established a ‘Corona Coordination Cell’ headed by an
Additional Foreign Secretary immediately after COVID-19 affected Bangladesh
and started working closely with the Prime Minister’s Office and other
relevant ministries and agencies.
Overseas Bangladesh missions are also instructed to look after the
expatriate Bangladeshi community living abroad, said the release.
Under the directives of the foreign ministry, Bangladesh missions abroad
have established ‘hotline numbers’ and many missions formed ‘pool of doctors’
to provide online medical advice to the expatriate Bangladeshis.
The Missions distributed food and necessary items among the Bangladesh
community living in different countries, particularly in the Middle East with
the allocated funds disbursed by foreign ministry in coordination with
expatriate’s welfare and overseas employment ministry.
The foreign ministry has also established a web page titled “COMBAT CORONA”
on its website for providing telemedicine services, awareness raising and
disseminating COVID-19 related information which is also connected with
hotlines of the embassies.
The ministry has also created a “WhatsApp Envoys” to keep continuous
contact with Bangladesh missions abroad while all missions are sending daily
reports to the ministry on COVID-19 from their respective host countries.
The foreign ministry in cooperation with Bangladesh Armed Forces has sent
some gifts to few countries including Bhutan, Maldives, China and Kuwait.
In addition, Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen has sent letters to the
Foreign Minister’s or spoken over to many relevant countries and few letters
have been sent jointly by Foreign Minister and Expatriate’s Welfare and
Overseas Employment Minister.
On Wednesday, at a video conference with foreign ministers of the member
states of OIC executive committee, Momen urged OIC countries to give utmost
importance on the issue of job retention of domestic and resident migrant
workers.
He also proposed to establish an OIC Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund
and urged to engage humanitarian organizations in OIC Member States to
provide sufficient financial assistance, medical support to the Muslim
migrant workers from LDCs and developing countries until the impact of the
epidemic is over.
Momen also urged the humanitarian organizations to advocate for migrant
workers job retention in OIC countries to ensure their healthy livelihoods.