332 Bangladeshis return from India

A total of 332 Bangladeshis, who were stranded in India due to the lockdown,has returned homeon Friday afternoon on two special flights.

The returnees were mostly patients, who went there for treatment,but there were also a few students, according to the Bangladesh High Commission in India.

A special flight of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines with 163 passengers including one infant arrived at HazratShahjalal International Airport from New Delhi at around 4:50pm, Biman's Deputy General Manager (PR) TaheraKhondoker confirmed to The Business Slandered.

Another flight of the US-Bangla Airlines with 169 passengers, including five infants, arrived here from Chennai around 2:56pm, confirmed its General Manager (PR) Kamrul Islam.

Another group of 164 Bangladeshis are expected to fly home from Chennaion Saturday.

Most of the people in this group got stuck in India while they were under treatment at Bengaluru's Narayana Hospital.

More such flights may be arranged to facilitate the return of stranded Bangladeshis if given approval by governments of both Bangladesh and India, said sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh.

So far, nearly 1,000 Bangladeshis, stranded in Indian cities because of the lockdown over the novel coronavirus since March 25, have returned home by air and through land routes.

The Indian government has been continuing the restrictions on both international and domestic travel by air, rail and public transport.

Bangladesh has so far facilitated the repatriation of over 2,000 stranded Bangladeshi citizens from China, India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Oman and Turkey. The stranded Bangladeshis included pilgrims, students, tourists, patients and their attendants, and businessmen.

The government of Bangladesh has so far facilitated the repatriation of 4,422 foreigners living in Bangladesh, said the foreign ministry on Thursday.