Bangladesh has brought back 155 of its nationals rescued from the sea by the Myanmar Navy.
Published : 22 Jul 2015, 08:03 PM
They were among 727 prospective migrants rescued recently from the boats of people smugglers on the Bay of Bengal.
The Bangladesh nationals came home through Bandarban’s Ghumdhum border around 3:30pm on Wednesday.
At a press briefing on the Bangladesh side afterwards, Myanmar’s Maungdaw immigration department Deputy Director Saw Naing said they had identified 379 more boat people as Bangladeshis.
BGB’s Cox’s Bazar Sector Commander Col MA Manik Rahman said those people would be brought back only after their Bangladeshi nationality was established during scrutiny.
The Bangladeshis who returned Wednesday would be provided with psychological and physical treatments in Cox’s Bazar, said International Organisation for Migration’s Bangladesh chapter’s National Programme Officer Asif Munier.
A 10-strong BGB team led by 17 Battalion Commander Lt Col Md Robiul Islam attended the flag meeting with the Myanmar border force BGP at Maungdaw on Wednesday morning to bring them back.
Cox’s Bazar police said they would be handed over to their families after the debriefing and immigration formalities.
Islam earlier said Myanmar Navy had rescued 208 migration seekers on May 21. Of them, 187 were identified as Bangladeshis and brought back.