A special chartered flight has carried 125 Bangladeshis stranded in the United Kingdom since suspension of international flights between Dhaka and London in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
Most of the returning passengers are students from Bangladesh, the High Commission in London said. The BG 4041 flight reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday morning.
Earlier, a total of 3,336 Bangladeshis stranded in India due to coronavirus lockdown returned home through Benapole checkpost since April.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem saw off the returning passengers at the Heathrow Airport on Sunday afternoon local time.
Earlier at the request of Bangladesh High Commission London, the government arranged the flight, being operated by the national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines and chartered by Bangladesh Air Force Welfare Trust (BAFWT).
The London High Commission facilitated return of the Bangladeshis after forming a COVID-19 Emergency Repatriation Committee.
Initially, more than 200 stranded Bangladeshi citizens, including students booked their flight, but many of them had cancelled their booking at the very last moment citing personal reasons and in the fear of institutional quarantine in Bangladesh on their arrival, the High Commission said.
However, London High Commission has already provided all the passengers with a health certificate based on their health assessment so that they would be directed to home quarantine only.
Similarly, the High Commission has organised for all passengers travelling from Dhaka to London that they would be guided to home quarantine.
The High Commissioner said: “We are grateful to Bangladesh Government, specially to Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina; and for the initiative of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh Air Force in particular for chartering this flight.”
“From the High Commission, we are humbly gratified that we could reunite the Bangladeshi citizens, in particular students, stranded in the UK with their families in Bangladesh before the Eid-ul-Fitr festival,” she said.
“We also like to thank particularly UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Home Office, UK Border Agency, London Heathrow Airport Authorities and Biman Bangladesh Airlines for their tremendous support to ensure safe return of the stranded Bangladeshis during this difficult time of unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.”
The government earlier announced that all the returnee Bangladeshis would have to be sent to a 14-day institutional quarantine under the management of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) if they failed to show medical certificate at the airport on their arrival in Dhaka.
Bangladesh so far repatriated stranded Bangladeshis from India, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar, apart from the UK.More chartered flights have also been planned to bring back Bangladesh nationals from the US and Malaysia soon.
The government earlier extended the ongoing ban on flight operation for the fifth consecutive time till May 16 from May 5.
Different foreign missions in Dhaka such as US, UK, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhutan, Myanmar and different European countries operated several special chartered flights to repatriate their citizens from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile UNB adds, a total of 3,336 Bangladeshis stranded in India amid lockdown following coronavirus outbreak have returned home through Benapole checkpost since April.
Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of Benapole International Checkpost Police Immigration, said 1,800 passengers returned to the country through Benapole checkpost in April.
However, the number of returnees is gradually increasing, he said adding that in the last 10 days of this month, 1,536 passengers have returned to the country. Each passenger is being kept in the institutional quarantine for 14 days after the health examination, he said.
After their arrival BGB members spray disinfectant, assist in checking their temperature with thermal scanner and then take them to local institutional quarantine center in a micro-bus.
They are also distributing food items among workers working at Benapole port, said LT Col Selim Reza of BGB-49 battalion.