176 Bangladeshis arrive in Jeddah from war-torn Sudan

Another 176 Bangladeshis arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday from Port Sudan in the first of the four chartered flights.

Bangladeshi Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Javed Patwary confirmed this to Daily Star.

Two more flights of Badr Airlines are expected to carry 302 Bangladeshi nationals on Wednesday night (local time) and another 74 people are expected to reach Jeddah on Thursday night, reports UNB citing a press release issued by Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Fifty-two Bangladeshis from Sudan will leave Jeddah Airport for Dhaka by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at 1:00am (Saudi local time). On Thursday, 130 people will return home by Qatar Airlines and 238 by Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Medina, according to the press release.

Others will be sent home on various flights as soon as possible. The English section of the Jeddah Bangladesh International School has provided provisions for the Bangladeshis' relaxation, food, and necessary medical care.

Earlier on May 8, 136 Bangladeshi nationals from Sudan reached home via Jeddah.

About 1,500 Bangladeshi citizens live in Sudan, who can register to come back to the country, after which they will be brought back in phases, according to the press release.

Bangladesh is operating four chartered flights from Sudan, at its own cost, to evacuate the remaining Bangladeshi citizens to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Three of the chartered flights are operating today (May 10, 2023), while the fourth will be operated tomorrow, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

He said the government has sent required financial support for providing food to Bangladeshis who are waiting in Sudan.

Sudan has plunged into a civil war that has so far claimed the lives of more than 600 people, including civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands since last month.