Staff Reporter :
Another batch of 36 Bangladeshi nationals stranded in Lebanon returned home on Wednesday from the war-torn Lebanon.
Naturally, the return of the Bangladeshis from Lebanon is hitting the remittance flow to some extent for such returns.
With assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Beirut, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), these people have come back on Emirates Airlines flight EK-584.
The government of Bangladesh bears the entire cost of the return.
Earlier, Foreign Adviser recently said that the interim government would bring back the registered Bangladesh workers with the government’s expense.
Notably, this brings the total number of Bangladeshi nationals repatriated from Lebanon to 216.
Upon arrival, the returnees were welcomed by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and the IOM.
Each returnee received Tk 5,000 in pocket money, food provisions, and basic medical assistance arranged by the IOM.
Mostafa Jamil Khan, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke with the returnees about their experiences and checked on their welfare. No casualties involving Bangladeshis in Lebanon have been reported so far.
In light of the ongoing conflict, the government has committed to covering the full cost of bringing home any Bangladeshi nationals in Lebanon who wish to return.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut continues its efforts to ensure a safe return for willing expatriates and to maintain the security of those who choose to remain in the region.
Earlier, Foreign Ministry stated that at least 1800 Bangladeshi in Lebanon had registered to return home amid the escalating violence as the situation is deteriorating regularly.
“So far 1800 Bangladeshis who want to return home have registered with our embassy in Lebanon. Of them only 160-165 are properly documented individuals. But rest of them around 90 per cent is undocumented.
They need to pay fine for clearance to return. The government is paying for it,” Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain stated.
Regarding the total number of Bangladeshis in Lebanon, Touhid Hossain said that the accurate figure cannot be said because many of them are undocumented.
“However, the figure would be 70,000 to 1,00,000. This is not a small figure,” he said.
“The Bangladeshi citizens who are living in the conflict free zone in Lebanon are fine. They are sending remittance to their families.
But those who are in the conflict-ridden areas are in trouble. However, many of them do not want to return as they spent a huge amount of money,” he explained.
“Besides, these people think what they will do after returning home. Despite knowing the danger they want to stay there,” he added.
Earlier, Bangladesh embassy in Lebanon requested the irregular expatriate workers, who want to return home amid the ongoing conflict there, to fill the designated forms at the embassy before collecting exit visas.
The embassy stated that individuals who have a valid passport but no residence permit (iqama), or who have not collected their residence permit, are considered irregular workers.