Expat workers will be repatriated, but advised to not return if they are not forced: Foreign minister

Bangladesh is going to repatriate at least 28,849 Bangladeshi migrants from Middle Eastern countries where they were either in the jail, deportation camps, or jobless, said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen today.

"We are assessing the quarantine capacity at home and then we are repatriating them," he said.

"We will repatriate all our citizens if needs be, there is no doubt about it. But I would request them not to return at this moment if they are not forced to return. The coronavirus pandemic will be over and then they can surely get back to work," the minister said.

Momen said this in a video statement after an inter-ministerial meeting attended by the ministers and officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, expatriates' welfare, health, home, civil aviation, disaster management, civil aviation, Bangladesh Biman and the Armed Forces Division.

It was the fifth inter-ministerial meeting held since the coronavirus pandemic began regarding the issue of repatriation of Bangladeshis who either got stranded after going abroad for travel, healthcare or other purposes, or the migrants who were being asked by labour-receiving countries to return home.

Some of Middle Eastern countries asked Bangladesh to repatriate the migrants either in jails, deportation centers, the undocumented or those who became jobless in the pandemic and are willing to return home.

3,695 Bangladeshis were already repatriated from the Middle East in the last two weeks, said the foreign minister.

Besides, 2,853 Bangladeshis, who were stranded after traveling abroad to India and some other countries, were also repatriated using special chartered flights. Those stranded in the UK and US are also in the process of repatriation, he added.

Talking about the Bangladeshis in Kuwait, Momen said there are some 4,500 Bangladeshis in detention camps in Kuwait at present. There were reports that they did not have proper access to food, prompting the Bangladesh mission to arrange food for them.

Kuwait authorities said they would arrange flights for them. Apart from that, others who want to return home can do so once airlines resume operations.

Biman Bangladesh flights have been suspended until May 16.

The minister noted that 400 Bangladeshis will return home from the Maldives tomorrow (May 7). Besides, 1,500 more Bangladeshis would return home over the next few weeks.

"We have sent 100 tonnes of food to Maldives. We will give more," Foreign Minister Momen said.

There are many Bangladeshis stranded in the UAE alongside Pakistanis and Indians. The UAE has asked India to take back 1.97 lakh Indians, he noted.

"We will also bring those who want to come back from the UAE," the minister noted.

For now, at least 4,262 Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia and 1,000 in Oman are awaiting repatriation. Some Bangladeshis in Jordan and Lebanon are also awaiting repatriation, he added.

Lebanon is in trouble due to economic and political crisis.

"We are trying to bring Bangladeshis from Lebanon through assistance from the IOM," minister Momen added.

Besides, large number of Bangladeshis in Iraq are also jobless and Bangladesh is planning to bring them home in various ways.

He said there are a few Bangladeshis who died due to Covid-19 abroad. However, countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia won't send them back to Bangladesh, and they will be buried there due to the transmission risks involved. If any country sends back bodies of the dead, they will do it following the guidelines set out by the World Health Organization.

"However, after bringing them back, their coffins won't be opened. That means their relatives cannot see the body," the minister said.