Mismanagement galore at Ashkona camp: families of Italy returnees allege

Families of Bangladeshis returning from Italy, who were taken to Ashkona Hajj Camp after they landed this morning, have raised concerns about the facilities at the camp and alleged they were "below standard".

The 152 returnees were taken directly to the camp after they landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 9:00am from Italy -- one of the countries hit hardest by the global coronavirus outbreak.

A number of family members waiting outside the camp said not only have no physicians checked up on the returnees, they were not offered any drinking water either. 

Badshah Nawfel, whose son Badshah Nawshad Russell is among the returnees, said the authorities served his son "substandard" breakfast.

After talking to his son over phone, Nawfel said, "The number of beds and resting arrangements are insufficient there. This is inhumane treatment, considering they just completed a near 20-hour journey by plane."

Delwar Hossain, whose son Mahbub Alam was also inside the camp, claimed that he had "better isolation facility" at home. "If authorities allow, I can take my son home."

However, Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), brushed off the allegations.

"We served them breakfast and water right after their arrival. All necessary arrangements have been made," she said when asked about the concerns.

"I don't know who raised such allegations but they are not correct," she told The Daily Star.