Bangladesh to fly back more expats amid coronavirus crisis

Bangladesh is flying back expatriates from several countries as the nation goes through an extensive lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision came in a meeting of ministries at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Foreign Employment, said Mohammad Rasheduzzaman, the APS to the minister, on Sunday.

“It was decided in the meeting that initially 316 expatriates from Kuwait will be flown back. Aid and food will be sent on return of the Kuwaiti flight,” he told bdnews24.com.

“A chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines will also be sent to South Korea to fly back 150 workers, appointed through the Employment Permit System (EPS), and 26 students.”

Kuwait has so far confirmed 550 cases of infection with one death. South Korea, on the other hand, registered over 10,000 cases of infection and 183 dead. However, the East Asian country now has a better grip on the situation.

“It was decided in the meeting that for humanitarian reasons Bangladeshi workers struggling abroad will be flown back home from several countries after verification,” Expatriate Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed said in the meeting.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal said the government might take other steps for those involved in criminal activities there, and pointed out that all those who would be flown back would be kept in mandatory quarantines.