List of Bangladeshi migrants dying from Covid-19 getting longer

The list of Bangladeshi migrants who died from coronavirus infection in different countries is getting longer as around 200 of them died as of April 11, according to a compilation by Brac's Migration Programme.

"We have estimated the number of deceased migrants based on media reports and on data from different Bangladeshi embassies," said Shariful Hasan, head of the programme.

However, foreign ministry officials told The Business Standard that this figure was an unofficial estimate.

Khalilur Rahman, head of the corona cell at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "We have heard about some unofficial estimates of deceased Bangladeshi migrants through our embassies in different countries. But I cannot verify the unofficial number. Officially, the number is around 15."

A total of 121 Bangladeshis have died from coronavirus infection in the USA so far. It is the highest number of deaths of Bangladeshi migrants from the viral infection abroad.

On Saturday, 11 Bangladeshi died in the USA, which is the highest number in a single day so far.

Now the Bangladeshi communities in New York and other states of the USA are living in anxiety.  

"The mornings in New York start with news of death nowadays. We have lost many Bangladeshis, including Kamal Ahmed, former president of the Bangladesh Society in New York," Imran Ansary, a Bangladeshi migrant there, wrote in his Facebook status recently.

"I live in the Jamaica area of New York City. Around 4 lakh people live here, where health facilities are not sufficient for this huge number of people," he said.
Many Bangladeshi doctors and health workers are fighting against the Covid-19 in the country.  

Meanwhile, 11 Bangladeshi migrants have died in Saudi Arabia, the largest destination of Bangladeshi migrant workers.

Around 15 lakh Bangladeshis are working in the Middle Eastern country, according to unofficial estimates of different organisations working on migrants.

Dr Monir Uddin Ahmed, a microbiologist and assistant professor at Qassim University, lives in Sultanah near Buraydah city of the Al Qassim region in Saudi Arabia. He said, "According to the Saudi media, 70-80 percent of patients infected with coronavirus are migrant workers in the country."

"The chance of getting infected with the virus is very high for Bangladeshi migrant workers here. This is because most of them live in shared accommodation," he added.  

Besides, many Bangladeshis have been hospitalised after testing positive for coronavirus in different countries.  

According to the Bangladesh High Commission in Singapore, 363 Bangladeshi workers were infected with coronavirus till April 9.  No Bangladeshi has died in the country as yet.

The workers told the Business Standard that they could not maintain social distancing as they also lived in shared accommodations.

"I have 12 roommates in my room, where the distance between two beds is one metre," said Mir Mohammad Al Amin, a Bangladeshi worker in Singapore.  

A one-minute silence for migrant workers who died from the Covid-19 was observed at 9am on Sunday at home and abroad.

The Bangladesh Civil Society for Migration, Migrant Forum in Asia and the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit jointly observed the programme.