Bangladesh has taken initiatives to bring back 159 more nationals from Myanmar, caught when illegally trying to migrate to other South Asian countries on boats.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will meet officials of Myanmar’s Immigration and National Registry Department on Monday morning.
Lt Col Md Rabiul Islam, commander of BGB 17 Battalion, said the meeting would take place near the Dhumdhum border in Naikhyangchharhi at 10am.
Thousands of illegal migrants landed in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh since Thailand launched a crackdown on human traffickers earlier this year.
An estimated 25,000 Myanmar Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis boarded people smugglers’ boats in the first three months of this year, the UNHCR said.
They cram into rickety boats to evade persecution and poverty by going to other rich countries, often endangering their lives.
The number of people leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh on boats has nearly tripled in three years – from 21,000 in 2012 to 58,000 last year, according to The Arakan Project.
Myanmar rescued 208 such illegal immigrants from its shores on May 21 following another 727 on May 29.
Bangladesh has brought back 342 of its nationals in three phases.
BGB official Islam said they have taken initiatives to take back another 159 on Monday.
Two scheduled flag meetings to this end were postponed on July 30 and Aug 5 due to bad weather.
Asif Muneer, national programme officer of International Organisation for Migration, said they have completed preparations for bringing them back.
The IOM will provide food, treatment, commuting costs and all humanitarian support to them until they reach their homes, he added.
Of these 159 people, 80 are from Narsinghdi and 18 from Chittagong. The rest are from Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Narayanganj, Faridpur, Shariatpur, Natore and Barisal.
Sixteen of them are children and juvenile, Muneer said.
Cox’s Bazar’s Additional Superintendent of Police Tofail Ahmed said the Bangladeshis would be taken tot the town’s cultural centre and questioned there before being sent home.
Source: bdnews24
