2 foreigners pushed back from Dhaka airport 

Two foreigners, who arrived here on a Qatar Airways flight on Monday evening, were pushed back on the return flight, said Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Director AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan.

Confirming the matter to The Business Standard, Touhid-ul Ahsan said, "One of the foreigners was USA citizen and other one was from Ivory Coast."

"They were sent back on the same flight as Bangladesh government previously suspended all on-arrival visas," the airport director added.

On Monday, a flight of Qatar Airways carrying 68 Bangladeshis from Italy and 27 from other European countries, landed at Dhaka airport despite a ban imposed by the Bangladesh government.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said Foreign Ministry gave the approval to the flight as the last inbound flight from Europe on humanitarian grounds.

Later the Bangladeshis were taken to Ashkona Hajj Camp quarantine centre. Doctors there conducted initial screening and released them with advice to stay in self-quarantine at home.

Earlier on March 14, the government suspended on arrival visas for all countries and banned flights carrying passengers from all European countries, except the United Kingdom, for two weeks in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus.