Online Desk  :  Eighty-two more Bangladeshi expatriates returned home from conflict-stricken Lebanon on Thursday night. A flight of Emirates Airlines carrying them arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, HSIA, at around 11:00pm, a Foreign Ministry press release said on Friday. The repatriation was facilitated through coordinated efforts by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut, and the International Organization for Migration, IOM. Of the returnees, 76 expatriates were repatriated at the government’s expenses while the return of six others was sponsored by the IOM.

All 76 government-sponsored expatriates had registered with the Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut while the remaining IOM-facilitated six individuals were registered with the organization. As of Thursday, a total of 697 Bangladeshi nationals have been repatriated from Lebanon through 11 flights. Upon their arrival at HSIA, the returnees were welcomed by officials, including Mostofa Jamil Khan, a director of the Foreign Ministry, who engaged with them to learn about their experiences of the ongoing conflict and to ensure their well-being.

The Bangladesh government has pledged to continue its efforts to repatriate those wishing to return home and ensure safety for those who choose to remain in Lebanon. The crisis has already claimed the life of one Bangladeshi expatriate, who was killed in a bombing incident.