PM asks to bring back stagnated Bangladeshis from China

DHAKA, Jan 27, 2020, The Bangladesh Today. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to bring back the ‘willing to return’ Bangladeshis who are now stagnated in China due to outbreak of deadly coronavirus, The Bangladesh Today reported.

This was revealed today by State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam in a facebook post.

“We’ve started discussions with the Chinese government in this regard,” he said in the post adding that it would be decided through discussion with local administration in China and with their consent on how this will be done.

“Our main purpose is the safety of our citizens,” the state minister said.

Alam said a primary directive will be issued by today to prepare a list of citizens who are willing to return.

Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing has already opened a 24-hour hotline to reach out expatriate Bangladeshis if they need any emergency support due to the virus.

The hotline number is +86 178-0111-6005 and it has been circulated to Bangladeshi expatriates, especially students and researchers residing across the China.

Mentioning that there are about 300 to 400 Bangladeshi students are now in Wuhan, the virus epicenter, the Bangladesh embassy earlier said the mission in Beijing is in touch with them.

The toll from China’s viral epidemic spiked on Monday to 80 dead with hundreds of new infections despite unprecedented quarantines and travel lockdowns, as foreign governments scrambled to help their trapped citizens.