Another 51 Bangladeshi evacuees return home from Sudan

One more group of 54 stranded Bangladeshis is expected to return home from Sudan in the evening, the International Organization for Migration says

Another 51 Bangladeshis stranded in Sudan have returned home amid fighting between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force.

The evacuees left Jeddah in a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight and arrived home around 10:30 am on Thursday, the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, confirmed.

“The Bangladeshi evacuees from Sudan left Jeddah at 1 am local time. Another 54 stranded Bangladeshis are expected to return home from Sudan on a flight around 7:30 pm,” said Md Sariful Islam, national communications officer at IOM.

Earlier on Wednesday, a special flight of Badr Airlines carried 176 Bangladeshis from Sudan to Jeddah.

The flight, the first of four planned by the Bangladesh government, left Port Sudan at 2:40 pm local time and landed in Jeddah around 3:30 pm local time, said Anisur Rahman, president of Sudan-Bangladesh Friendship Association who was on the flight.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam had previously said that around 555 Bangladeshis were stranded at Port Sudan and three flights would run on Wednesday and another on Thursday to move them to safety in Saudi Arabia.

“The repatriation did not take place at the expected pace, it’s getting delayed. But in a conversation with the prime minister it has been decided that Bangladesh will operate four flights at its own cost to move the stranded Bangladeshis from Port Sudan to Jeddah,” he added.

Battles between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April have killed hundreds of people and wounded thousands of others, disrupted aid supplies and sent hundreds and thousands of refugees fleeing abroad, turning parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum into war zones and derailed an internationally backed plan to usher in civilian rule following years of unrest and uprisings.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a total of 1,500 Bangladeshi nationals were in Sudan amid the conflict. A total of 682 Bangladeshi citizens reached Port Sudan on May 2.

On May 8, the first group of Bangladeshi evacuees from Sudan returned home via Jeddah after being stuck in the Northeast African country for three weeks. Three flights of the Royal Saudi Air Force took them to Jeddah with nationals from other countries.

The government is handing over Tk 3,000 to each expatriate returned from Sudan, while the IOM is giving them Tk 2,000 each, along with food, upon their arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.