173 Bangladeshis to return home from Myanmar tomorrow

One hundred and seventy-three Bangladeshi nationals will return home tomorrow from Sittwe prison in Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The returnees will be carried by the "Myanmar Naval Ship Chin Dwin" which is visiting Bangladesh to bring back members of Myanmar defence forces who were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh due to conflict in Rakhine state, said the Bangladesh embassy in Yangon.

The ship is expected to reach Bangladesh territory by tomorrow and handover of the Bangladeshi citizens to the relevant authorities of Bangladesh will take place at that time.

Out of the 173 people, 129 are from Cox's Bazar, 30 are from Bandarban, seven are from Rangamati, one each from Khagrachari, Noakhali, Narayanganj, Chattogram, Rajbari, Narshingdi and Nilphamari.

The Bangladesh embassy in Yangon, upon learning of the tentative visit of the Myanmar ship to Bangladesh, took up the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh and relevant Myanmar authorities to seize the opportunity to send back the maximum number of verified Bangladeshi Nationals who were in different prisons of Myanmar.

The embassy also pursued the relevant host authorities to bring the 144 "verified and jail term completed or pardoned" returnees in Sittwe prison for smooth return and pursued for releasing the 29 verified Bangladeshi nationals who were still serving their jail terms or under trial. Pursuant to the mission's efforts, the 29 persons were pardoned and sent back to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh embassy in Yangon and Bangladesh consulate in Sittwe have been working for this return since the last return of Bangladeshi citizens that took place on October 3 last year when 29 Bangladeshis returned home through a flag meeting.

Representatives of the Bangladesh embassy in Yangon and consulate in Sittwe were physically present to coordinate with the local authorities, conduct verification process and issue travel permits in favour of the returnees.