IOM urged to repatriate Bangladeshis from Yemen

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque. Star file photo

Bangladesh has officially requested the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate Bangladesh nationals trapped in war-torn Yemen.

The government has also urged India to help repatriate the Bangladeshis from Yemen, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said while talking to reporters at the foreign ministry today.

India, in principle, agreed to assist Bangladesh to bring back the nationals depending on availability of space in ship as the country is sending a ship to rescue its citizens stranded in Yemen, the foreign secretary said.

Meanwhile, in an imporatant development, the High Commission of India in Bangladesh in a statement on its official Twitter account today said, "India to Assist in Evacuation of Bangladesh Nationals from Yemen."

Haque said that they had spoken to New Delhi on Tuesday.

Meantime, Indian Naval Ship Sumitra, which was around the region, today reached Djibouti with first batch of Indians evacuated from war-torn Yemen.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that a total number of 350 Indian nationals, who have been evacuated from strife-torn Yemen's Aden city to Djibouti, will be brought back to India by an Indian Air Force plane tonight.

Bangladesh has sought support from Saudi Arabia to help rescue Bangladesh nationals, he said adding that around 1,500 to 3000 Bangladesh nationals are living in Yemen and all of them are not interested in coming back.

The foreign secretary came up with the remarks after two Bangladeshi engineers sought help from the Bangladesh government to rescue them from Yemen.

In connection to that, the secretary has said they are in touch with the Bangladeshis there.

"Even many of them (stranded Bangladeshis) made direct contact with me in my cell phone and we are very much active and have taken effective steps to rescue the Bangladeshi nationals," he said.

"It gets difficult as there is no embassy in Yemen and moreover currently there is no commercial flight in operation and thus we are not being able to send any official in Yemen," Haque added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened a 'helpline' with specific contact points so that Bangladeshi nationals living in Yemen can stay in touch with the officials concerned.

Bangladeshi citizens have taken shelter in Aden, which is apparently safer place in Yemen.

On March 30, Bangladesh declared its support to the Saudi-led coalition which launched air strikes against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen after the rebels took control of large parts of the country.