The government has decided to allow airlines operating special flights to five countries — Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, UAE and Singapore — from April 17 so that stranded Bangladeshi expatriate workers in Dhaka can go back their workplaces. The decision was taken at a virtual inter-ministerial meeting attended by foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. “At the meeting, we have decided to allow the airlines to operate special flights to four Middle East countries and Singapore from April 17 so that our expatriate brothers can reach their host countries,” CAAB chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told BSS after the meeting. A large numbers of expatriate Bangladeshi workers have been stuck in Dhaka as the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) imposed a ban on all commercial international and domestic flight operations for one week from April 14 to check the new spike of COVID-19. The ban has forced to cancel more than 500 regular flights as currently 70 to 75 flights have been operated to and from Dhaka per day. The movement of chartered flights, cargo flights, air ambulance and special flights are kept out of the restriction. Earlier, CAAB suspended passenger flight operations on all domestic routes following weeklong countrywide restriction from April 5. Last year, Bangladesh suspended all commercial flights for more than three months to check outbreak of the pandemic Source: BSS AH

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, the Bangladeshi nationals who have lost their passports and would apply for passport renewal, their problems will be solved for sure. Besides, among the Rohingya population who got Bangladeshi passports, if they apply for renewal then we will take decision after analyzing those. The home minister said this while answering to the newsmen after joining 30 thousand baskets of food items distribution project implementation program for Rohingyas in Bangladesh and the host community at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. Asaduzzaman Khan said, Rohingya problem is not new. Even Rohingyas came here 50-60 years ago. Saudi Arabia was so generous that they sheltered Rohingyas at that time. Rohingyas live in a particular area in Saudi Arabia. We always have said that Rohingyas are not Bangladeshi nationals, they are the inhabitants of Myanmar. He said, if any Bangladeshi went to Saudi Arabia as Rohingya national then we will give him the Bangladeshi passport. The economic expansion that Bangladesh is going through, if that continues then we will be the 25th largest prosperous economy in the world by the year 2035. The minister said, bilateral discussions are going on including in the United Nations to send back 1.1 million Rohingyas to Myanmar. We want Saudi government to be our side to send Rohingyas back to their country. Saudi Arabian Ambassador in Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan was present in the program. AH  

A total of 304 passengers who returned home from different countries were sent to Diya Bari quarantine centre in Uttara from Shahjalal Airport on Sunday as they did not have coronavirus negative test reports. Dr Shahriar Sajjad, in -charge of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Health Centre, told UNB that 304 passengers were sent to the quarantine centre in the last 24 hours till 8:00 am Sunday. They all came from different countries, mostly from the Middle Eastern ones, he added. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority issued a circular saying that all passengers from abroad must have Covid-19 negative certificates. Or else, they will be sent to institutional quarantine for 14 days. Source: UNB AH

Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen said, embassy apps have been launched in 60 missions of Bangladesh out of 78 in abroad. But the expatriate workers cannot get service from these apps due to lack of efficiency. He said this after joining a book cover unveiling program through online titled ‘Odommo Bangladesh’ written by University Grants Commission (UGC) member Dr. Md. Sajjad Hossain. In the program the Foreign Minister said, there are 1 crore 23 lakh expatriate Bangladeshis living in different countries of the world. To provide service for these expatriates we have launched embassy apps service. 35 types of services are being given through these apps. But the people who would provide service have not that kind of efficiency. On the other hand the expatriates also cannot get the service due to lack of efficiency. Sometimes they cannot upload their photos in the right way or write the date of birth in a wrong way. So emphasis should be given on increasing efficiency. AH  

Bangladesh has requested the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to increase flights between the two countries so that the expatriates who got stuck here can return to their workplaces smoothly. Bangladesh also urged the KSA to give permission to Biman Bangladesh Airlines to operate flights on Dhaka-Dammam route. Currently, the national flag carrier has permission to operate flights to Riyadh, Madinah and Jeddah. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen made the request to his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during a telephone conversation on Sunday evening. The Saudi government on Wednesday positively responded over workers’ issues ending barriers to their return to the workplaces in the KSA. Dr Momen thanked his KSA counterpart for increasing Iqama validity for Bangladeshi workers and allowing them to extend visa validity if expired already, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Source: UNB AH

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said the Covid-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on expatriate Bangladeshis and posing many challenges now but the storm will pass.  He said the expatriates have no reason to worry about the visa expiration date and assured that visa will be renewed automatically free of charge. Momen made the remarks on Wednesday after unveiling the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the premises of Sylhet deputy commissioner’s office. He also urged the expatriates not to return home unless they have an emergency. The minister welcomed Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s two-day’s Dhaka visit. “We’ll have discussions on different issues,” he said. Coronavirus vaccine “There’s a chance that India will make a Covid-19 vaccine and how we can get the vaccine will be discussed.” India currently has more than 2.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 58,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University tally. Bangladesh’s officially confirmed cases have surpassed 282,000 with more than 3,700 deaths. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen had earlier said Bangladesh would explore all the avenues to get quick access to Covid-19 vaccine.  “As part of discussions with others, we will discuss the issue (vaccine) with India. We should have all options and will head for the one which will be safer and useful for us,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday.  Foreign Secretary Shringla is on a visit to Dhaka to discuss and “take forward cooperation” on matters of mutual interest, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka soon after his arrival on Tuesday. Source: UNB AH

The Election Commission has made plan to start voter registration for expatriates, said Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda. The registration process will be conducted in different countries soon so that expatriate Bangladeshi nationals can be registered as voters in the country, he said. He made the disclosure in an inaugural session of an International Conference on 'Making Our Election Inclusive and Accessible' in India on Thursday. The CEC said the Commission will set up offices in different places of expatriate Bangladeshis who are living in Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, United Kingdom, USA, Italy, Australia and Canada. He said more than one crore people live in 157 countries of the world and many of the expatriates could not include names in the voters list and for this, they have no national ID card. The CEC said a team of technical and non-technical experts will visit the expatriate countries to verify the feasibility of voter registration. On the occasion of National Voters Day, the top officials of the Election Commission of Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Kazakhstan and Russia have participated in this conference organized by the Election Commission of India. Representatives from different international organizations also joined the programme. MHK