Foreigners flying back home amid virus scare
A large number of foreigners are leaving Bangladesh as the government has put the country on a 10-day shutdown since Thursday to prevent contagious spread of coronavirus.
Some foreign governments are also sending charter flights to fly their citizens from the country.
The diplomats of different countries met Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday and informed him that some of their non-essential staffers wanted to return home, said a foreign ministry official.
Khalilur Rahman, additional foreign secretary, said the foreign ministry authorities told the diplomats that there was no issue at all if the foreigners wanted to return.
"We said they could use charter flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines or other airlines. In case of other flights, the carriers will have to fly to Bangladesh empty," he said.
He also said, "We will take the best possible care of the foreigners who live in Bangladesh. However, people generally want to stay close to their families at their homes during such pandemics."
No ambassador of the foreign missions in Bangladesh is returning to their homeland, Khalilur affirmed.
An official of the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka said, "Some 240 Malaysians left Bangladesh on March 24. Over 200 more are going on March 28 [today]."
Malaysian authorities are chartering their flights for the Malaysian citizens, mostly students studying in medical colleges in Bangladesh.
"Colleges have remained shut. Besides, businesses are closed. So, they thought it was better for them to spend time with their families. They will return as the situation normalises," the official of the Malaysian High Commission told The Daily Star.
Some Sri Lankan and Bhutanese citizens also left for their homes this week.
Some employees of European Union countries, the US and UK have also flown to their homelands, while some are planning to fly, according to the officials of the foreign missions concerned.
"In a case of emergency, State Department gives options for its officials to return. This is not evacuation in anyway. Some officials are opting to go back, but most others are not," said a diplomatic source without being able to give any figure of those leaving Bangladesh.
British High Commission in Dhaka has advised UK citizens to leave Bangladesh using Biman Bangladesh Airlines flights that are still operating on the Dhaka-London and Dhaka-Manchester routes. Flights of these routes will be suspended from March 30.
Meanwhile, the UK government has asked all its citizens abroad to return, said an official at the high commission.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected 532,696 people globally. At least 24,075 people have died.
Italy has been the worst hit by the COVID-19 after China. In Bangladesh, 48 were infected and five of them died until yesterday.
Bangladesh has declared a general holiday for most public and private offices from March 26 to April 4, shut down the educational institutions and suspended all the flights of Biman, except for Manchester and London routes.
Public buses, railways and domestic flights were also suspended to check movement of people and thus halt the spread of the deadly virus.
According to the home ministry, about 2.5 lakh foreigners from 44 countries are employed in more than 20 trades in Bangladesh.