Eleven Bangladeshis have returned home from Yemen after the government started the process of bringing back its nationals evacuated from the trouble-torn state.
Published : 10 Apr 2015, 07:52 PM
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka earlier said Indian officials had evacuated 272 Bangladeshis from Yemen.
A foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday told bdnews24.com that 11 of those rescued arrived at Shahjalal International Airport at 5:30pm by an Emirates flight.
Among them, eight are women and children.
The spokesperson said the process of bringing them back had begun and “we’ll let know shortly how we’ll bring them all back”.
The spokesperson, however, could not give details of the group that arrived in Dhaka.
India has coordinated the rescue operation from Djibouti, t African state opposite Yemen on the other side of the Gulf of Aden.
But it officially called off the rescue operations having brought back all of its nationals.
However, it is not clear whether any Bangladeshis remained stranded in Yemen.
Bangladesh does not have mission in Yemen, but the foreign secretary initially said they estimated there might be between 1500 and 3000 nationals living in Yemen.
Later, the government estimated around 350 Bangladeshis were stuck in the capital Sana’a, currently under control of the Houthi rebels, who have ousted Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The conflict in Yemen has turned the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state into the latest theatre for Sunni Saudi Arabia’s proxy war with its regional Shia rival Iran.
Tehran, however, denies Riyadh's charges that it has been arming the Houthis, who emerged as the country's most powerful faction.
They took over the capital six months ago together with supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Bangladesh earlier endorsed its support to Saudi-led effort in Yemen.