173 Bangladeshis to return home from Myanmar today
NEWS DESK
One hundred seventy-three Bangladeshi nationals will return home on Wednesday from Sittwe Prison in Rakhine State, Myanmar. The returnees will be transported by the ‘Myanmar Naval Ship Chin Dwin’, which is visiting Bangladesh to bring back members of the Myanmar defense force who were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh due to conflicts in Rakhine State, said the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon.
The ship is expected to reach Bangladeshi territory by Wednesday, and the handover of the Bangladeshi citizens to the relevant authorities of Bangladesh will take place at that time.
Out of the 173 people, 129 are from Cox’s Bazar district, 30 from Bandarban district, seven from Rangamati district, and one each from Khagrachari, Noakhali, Narayanganj, Chattogram, Rajbari, Narshingdi, and Nilphamari districts.
Upon receiving information about the tentative visit of the Myanmar ship to Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh, along with relevant Myanmar authorities, to seize the opportunity to repatriate the maximum number of verified Bangladeshi nationals who were in various prisons in Myanmar.
The embassy also pursued the relevant host authorities to facilitate the smooth return of 144 ‘verified and jail term completed or pardoned’ returnees in Sittwe Prison, and pursued the release of 29 verified Bangladeshi nationals who were still serving their jail terms or under trial. Pursuant to the mission’s efforts, these 29 persons were pardoned and sent back to Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon and the Bangladesh Consulate in Sittwe have been working steadfastly for this return since the last repatriation of Bangladeshi citizens on October 3, 2023, when 29 Bangladeshis returned home through a flag meeting.
Representatives of the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon and the Bangladesh Consulate in Sittwe were physically present to coordinate with the local authorities, conduct the verification process, and issue Travel Permits in favor of the returnees.
