453 Bangladeshis return home from India, Oman

A total of 453 Bangladeshi nationals returned home today from India and Oman on two separate special flights.

Of them, 289 Bangladeshis, who were either imprisoned or in deportation centres in Oman, landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) around 6:20pm on a special flight of Oman Air, an official of Air Traffic Control at HSIA told The Daily Star.

Earlier, 164 Bangladeshi citizens, who were stranded in India for over a month due to flight suspension amid the Covid-19 pandemic, landed at the HSIA around 3:00pm by a special flight of US-Bangla Airlines, Group Captain Touhid-ul Ahsan told media in a WhatsApp message.

Meanwhile, two more airlines -- Salam Air, a budget airlines of Oman, and Buddha Air, a private airlines of Nepal -- are also scheduled to bring back Bangladeshi passengers from Oman and Nepal today, said Touhid-ul Ahsan.

From April 20 till today, around 1,100 Bangladeshi nationals were brought back from India by seven chartered flights of US-Bangla Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines, with the passengers bearing the cost of their own tickets for the flights.

Of the seven flights, US-Bangla Airlines operated six flights, including one today, while Biman operated one.

US-Bangla Airlines is scheduled to operate two more special flights from Chennai on May 1 and 2 to bring back more Bangladeshi nationals.

Also, the national flag carrier is scheduled to operate four chartered flights on May 1 (from Kolkata), May 2 and 5 (from Delhi), and another on May 3 (from Mumbai), to bring back stranded Bangladeshis, said Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman.

As per the government's decision, all returnee Bangladeshis are scheduled to remain in 14-day institutional quarantine if they fail to show medical certificate that they have tested negative for Covid-19 on their arrival to the airport.

Bangladesh High Commission in India earlier said they have kept their efforts on to facilitate the return of more Bangladeshis who are still stranded in India.