Extra Biman flights to bring back home undocumented workers having amnesty from Malaysia

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate 16 extra flights on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route dedicated for the amnesty-granted undocumented Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia from December 12 until December 31 alongside the regular flights, ministry sources said Thursday.

The national flag carrier has taken the initiative as per the instructions from the civil aviation and tourism ministry.

The move came as the expatriates welfare ministry on December 02 requested the ministry to provide additional flights to bring back home the undocumented passengers from Malaysia. The amnesty for the workers will end on December 31 this year.

The illegal migrants who have been given amnesty under the 'Back for Good' programme by the Malaysian government are now facing tremendous problems there due to scarcity of air tickets and high fare.

Under the arrangement, Biman is supposed to deploy both Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner to carry the migrant workers from Malaysia. At present, weekly 10 flights are operated on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route including two dreamliners.

As many as 29,000 illegal migrant workers have returned from Malaysia, while another several thousand are stranded as they currently have no air tickets. The air fare has reached as high as Tk 50,000-70,000 from the regular Tk 10,000-15,000.

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