Quarantine centres to be set up for 4,000 incoming expats
An inter-ministerial meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Photo: CourtesyStar Online ReportThe government is setting up quarantine centres for 4,000 persons in Dhaka and some other districts around the capital for those who will be repatriated from different countries, mainly from the Middle East.”The Armed Forces Division has been working in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to prepare quarantine centres at different places in Dhaka and other districts with a capacity of around 4,000 persons for institutional quarantine,” said a foreign ministry statement.The Armed Forces Division has also been in close liaison with the Ministry of Health and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for post-arrival formalities, including quarantining the returnees.”The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with the civil aviation authority for smooth airport reception and ease in landing permission of special flights carrying Bangladesh nationals from different countries,” the statement said.The statement came after an inter-ministerial meeting was held today at the foreign ministry on repatriation, nationality verification, quarantine, relief for the expatriates, coordination among departments, sending medicines and medical equipment to friendly countries, post repatriation preparedness.Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen presided over the meeting attended by Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, senior officials from the Armed Forces Division, civil aviation authority, health ministry, and other relevant ministries and departments.The meeting, the third in a row, is being held at a time when different countries are asking Bangladesh to take back some of the Bangladeshi migrants, especially those in the jails, deportation centres or are undocumented.Besides, some Bangladeshis who went to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah or those who went to India either for treatment, travel or studies, have also been stranded and may be brought back.Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the Middle Eastern countries are trying to reduce the migrant population. “If we dont repatriate them, they wont recruit workers from our country when the situation improves,” he said.”Therefore, we are repatriating them because otherwise there will be problems. We said we will bring them back in small batches.”He said there were some Bangladeshis in jails and authorities of those countries wanted them repatriated.”We said we will bring them back but will have to see what type of crimes they committed. We will verify those. If someone is convicted for murder, they wont be taken back. Those coming from jails will have to face due jail terms in Bangladesh,” Momen said in a video message to the media.Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad said a flight with more than 300 Bangladeshis from Saudi Arabia was scheduled to fly to Dhaka tonight in a Saudi Airlines flight.The Expatriates welfare ministry has announced that every returnee will be given Tk 5,000 on arrival at the airport as conveyance and the family of expatriate workers who died of coronavirus will be given Tk 3 lakh.The ministry will also arrange loans of Tk 5 lakh to Tk 7 lakh upon return of expatriate workers in order to enable them pursue viable economic activities, especially in the agriculture sector, it said.The ministry also has allocated Tk 4.5 crore for emergency food assistance for the Bangladeshi migrants in different countries in the Middle East and Malaysia.The foreign ministry said as a goodwill gesture, a medical team equipped with medical gadgets and medicine from the Armed Forces Division has been sent to help Kuwait in this critical moment.A consignment of medicines and medical items will also be sent to Bhutan soon. Bangladesh is also planning to send similar items to other countries in need, the statement added.孟加拉国将为4000名外来人员建立隔离中心2020年4月15日，星期三，在达卡的外交部举行了一次部际会议。《每日星报》在线报道孟加拉国政府正在达卡和首都周围的一些地区为4000人建立隔离中心，这些人将从不同的国家，主要是从中东被遣返回国。一份外交部声明称:武装部队司一直在与卫生和家庭福利部合作，在达卡和其他地区的不同地方建立检疫中心，可容纳约4000人进行机构检疫。。武装部队司还与孟加拉国(CAAB)卫生部和民航局密切联络，办理抵达后手续，包括对返回者进行检疫。声明称:外交部将与民航局协调，确保机场接待的顺利进行，并放宽载有来自不同国家的孟加拉国民的特殊航班的着陆许可。。声明是在外交部今天举行的关于遣返、国籍核实、检疫、外籍人员救济、部门间协调、向友好国家运送药品和医疗设备、遣返后准备等问题的部际会议后发表的。外交部长阿卜杜勒·穆明主持会议，与会者包括侨民福利部长伊姆兰·艾哈迈德、外交国务部长沙赫里亚尔·阿拉姆、武装部队司、民航局、卫生部和其他相关部委的高级官员。这是连续第三次会议，会议召开之际，不同国家要求孟加拉国遣返一些孟加拉劳工，特别是那些在监狱、驱逐中心或无证移民。此外，一些去沙特阿拉伯朝觐和朝觐的孟加拉人，或者去印度接受治疗、旅行或学习的孟加拉人，也被困住了，可能会被带回来。外交部长阿卜杜勒·穆明说，中东国家正在努力减少移民人口。如果我们不遣返他们，他们就不会在形势好转时从我们国家招聘工人，他说。因此，我们正在遣返他们，因为否则会有问题。我们说我们会小批量把它们带回来。他说监狱里有一些孟加拉人，这些国家的当局希望他们被遣返。我们说过我们会把他们带回来，但是我们必须看看他们犯了什么样的罪。我们会核实的。如果有人被判谋杀罪，他们不会被带回去。穆明在给媒体的视频信息中说:那些从监狱出来的人将在孟加拉国面临应有的刑期。外籍人士福利部长伊姆兰·艾哈迈德说，一架载有300多名孟加拉人的沙特阿拉伯航班计划今晚乘沙特航空公司的航班飞往达卡。外籍人士福利部宣布，每名返回者抵达机场时将获得5000塔卡作为交通工具费用，死于冠状病毒的外籍工人家属将获得30万塔卡。该部还将在外籍工人回国后安排50万塔卡至70万塔卡的贷款，以使他们能够从事可行的经济活动，特别是在农业部门。该部还拨款450万塔卡，用于向中东和马来西亚不同国家的孟加拉移民提供紧急粮食援助。外交部表示，作为一个善意的姿态，在这一关键时刻，一个配备有医疗器械和药品的医疗队已经从武装部队师被派往帮助科威特。一批药品和医疗用品也将很快运往不丹。声明补充说，孟加拉国也计划向其他有需要的国家发送类似的物品。