52 more Bangladeshis leave Lebanon for Dhaka

The 6th batch, consisting of 52 Bangladeshis, were evacuated from Beirut on a flight with a stopover in Dubai en route to Dhaka today amid the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.

The flight carrying these passengers left Beirut at 7:20 am and the flight is scheduled to land at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:00 pm with a layover in Dubai, according to a press release issued from the Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut, BSS reports. 

The statement noted that all returnees with prepared travel documents, including passports and residence permits, completed necessary procedures through the embassy's facilitation to ensure a smooth return.

Earlier, the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut had issued a notice encouraging Bangladeshi citizens interested in repatriation to register their names.

The first group of 54 Bangladeshi nationals returned on the evening of October 21. In subsequent groups, 65 nationals, including two infants, arrived on October 23, and followed by 31 people on October 26, 30 on October 29, and 36 Bangladeshis on October 30.

With the return of today's 52-member group, a total of 268 Bangladeshi nationals have safely returned from Lebanon to Bangladesh, facilitated through coordinated efforts between the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Bangladesh government.

Each returnee was provided with Taka 5,000, basic food supplies, and preliminary medical assistance by the IOM.

With support from the IOM-UN Migration and the European Union, repatriation efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe return of Bangladeshis amid the escalating conflict in Lebanon.

Approximately 70,000 to 100,000 Bangladeshi nationals are estimated to reside in Lebanon. Of them, around 1,800 have expressed interest in returning to Bangladesh.