Govt to evacuate stranded Bangladeshis

The government will bring back the Bangladeshi citizens who are stranded in various locked down countries including neighbouring India once the situation becomes normal, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday.

"The government is firmly committed to bring them back quickly who got stuck in India and other countries," said the ministry adding, "It is closely monitoring the situation."

According to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, nearly 2,500 Bangladeshi passport holders including more than 1,000 students are currently stranded in India.  

The neighbouring country went into a 21-day lockdown from March 25 till April 14, in a bid to slowdown the spread of coronavirus.

As many as 81 stranded Bangladeshi citizens returned from the West Bengal on Friday through Benapole port on special arrangement. They were sent to a 14-day mandatory quarantine.

Apart from the Friday arrivals to Benapole port, immigration police said a total of 1,296 Bangladeshi citizens have returned home from locked down India through Bhomra Land Port in Satkhira in last 10 days.

73 Bangladeshi Tabligh members quarantined in Delhi  

Some 73 Bangladeshi Tabligh members have been put under self-isolation in India who attended a religious gathering at the mission's headquarters in Delhi, quoting the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed Friday.  

The congregation at Tabligh's headquarters is said to be the new hotspot of coronavirus infection which has sparked mass outrage among Indian people.

After attending the gathering, the Bangladeshi Tabligh activists were reportedly touring several parts of India with locals and people from other countries totally defying Covid-19 travel restrictions.   

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Bangladesh mission in Delhi to prepare a list of stranded Bangladeshis to bring them in under a special arrangement.