JICA to resume sending volunteers to BD 7 years after Holey Artisan attack

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will resume sending volunteers to Bangladesh seven years after a deadly terrorist attack in the capital Dhaka.

In July 2016, an armed group of extremists stormed a restaurant, Holey Artisan Bakery, in Dhaka and killed 22 people, including seven Japanese who were working for JICA projects. 

JICA immediately repatriated more than 20 volunteers from Bangladesh and suspended sending volunteers for safety reasons.

JICA now considers the security situation in Bangladesh to be stable and has decided to restart the dispatch of volunteers to Bangladesh as early as September, according to NHK World-Japan.

NHK WORLD-JAPAN is the international service of Japan's public media organisation NHK.

As a first step, the agency plans to send two young volunteers for a short-term stay to help rehabilitate people with disabilities and oversee quality control of processed agricultural products.

JICA volunteers began aid activities in Bangladesh in 1973, two years after the country's independence.

At one point, more than 60 volunteers were active in Bangladesh and achieved good results.

Between 1999 and 2015, nearly 70 volunteers sent by JICA worked in polio control and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh.

They travelled throughout the country to ensure every child could be vaccinated against polio. Their activities led to the eradication of the infectious disease there.

JICA officials say they expect volunteers to help improve people's livelihoods and address disparities between urban and rural communities.