136 Bangladeshis to return home from Sudan todays morning

136 Bangladeshis returned home from war-torn Sudan via Jeddah. A Biman Bangladesh flight landed at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:20 am on Monday (May 8).

Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment Minister Imran Ahmed welcomed them at the airport. The Biman Bangladesh flight left for Dhaka from Jeddah Airport at 1:00 pm on Sunday with these Bangladeshis.

Earlier, a special flight of Saudi Air Force carrying 70 Bangladeshi citizens from Port Sudan arrived at Jeddah Airport on Sunday afternoon. Among them women, children and sick passengers are given priority. Later in the second phase in the afternoon, another special flight of the Saudi Air Force arrived in Jeddah with 66 Bangladeshis.

On May 3, 675 Bangladeshis were safely taken to Port Sudan from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. They were taken there by a total of 13 buses in two phases.

Officials related to the repatriation of Bangladeshis from Sudan say that it is taking some time to take the Bangladeshis from Port Sudan to Jeddah due to the delay in getting the travel permit issue and ship schedule. However, the efforts to return the rest to the country are ongoing.

According to the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh, about 1,500 Bangladeshi citizens are living in Sudan. Among them, those who have registered to come to the country will be brought back to the country in stages. Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi and Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah have taken all preparations in this regard.

At the beginning of the fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary forces, the residence of the Acting Ambassador of Bangladesh, Tarek Ahmed, was attacked in the country's capital, Khartoum, on April 15. Machine gun fire penetrated the walls and windows of the ambassador's house. Then on April 22, during the fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary forces, machine gun bullets penetrated through the windows and walls of the Bangladesh Embassy.

International media reports that more than 500 people have lost their lives so far in the fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces.

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