At least 107 Bangladeshis, who got stranded amid fighting in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and its suburbs, began returning home today.

Of them, 30 migrants flew for Dhaka this morning in a Turkish Airlines flight and are scheduled to arrive in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday, said ASM Ashraful Islam, labour counsellor of Bangladesh embassy in Libya.

Besides, 35 more are scheduled to fly this evening and arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday, he told The Daily Star by phone.

“We are arranging repatriation of the rest by this week,” he said.

The situation turned worse after Libyan National Force of Khalifa Haftar began attacks to take control of Libyan capital Tripoli since early April this year.

Bangladesh embassy in Libya had announced that those who were in risks due to the fighting should inform the embassy.

In response, some 300 were relocated to the safe areas in Tripoli. Of them, 107, who had wanted to return home, are now being repatriated. Nearly 100 more have recently informed the embassy of their willingness to come home, Ashraful Islam said.

Early May, some 40 Bangladeshis among other nationalities drowned in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe.

Besides, 64 Bangladeshis were rescued from the Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia on June 18 as their engine boat got dysfunctional in the mid-sea. Fifty-two of them returned home and 12 others were still living in a shelter centre of the International Organization for Migration in Tunis.

Besides, some Bangladeshis, who were rescued by the Libyan coastguards during their voyage towards Europe, were detained by the Libyan authorities. Bangladesh embassy officials could not say the exact number of them.

Around 800 Bangladeshi migrants, who were either stranded in the civil-war torn North African country or jailed or victims of human trafficking, were repatriated in 2018 and until June this year, Ashraful Islam said.

“We have asked the Bangladeshis in Libya not to take any sea journey for Europe because it’s become very risky,” he added.

Those in Libya and are willing to return home are also being provided assistance to return home, he added.