Eighty-two more Bangladeshi expatriates returned home from conflict-stricken Lebanon Thursday night aboard an Emirates Airlines flight.
The flight, EK-584, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 11:00pm, a foreign ministry press release said on Friday.
The repatriation was facilitated through coordinated efforts by the ministries of foreign affairs, expatriate welfare and overseas employment, the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut, and the International Organization for Migration.
Of the returned, 76 expatriates were repatriated at the government鈥檚 expenses while the return of six others was sponsored by the IOM.
All 76 government-sponsored expatriates had registered with the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut while the remaining IOM-facilitated six individuals were registered with the organisation.
Upon their arrival at HSIA, the returned people were welcomed by officials, including Mostofa Jamil Khan, a director of the foreign ministry,
who engaged with them to learn about their experiences of the ongoing conflict and to ensure their well-being.
As of Thursday, 697 Bangladeshi nationals have been repatriated from Lebanon through 11 flights.
The Bangladesh government has pledged to continue its efforts to repatriate those wishing to return home and ensure safety for those who choose to remain in Lebanon.
The crisis has already claimed the life of one Bangladeshi expatriate, who was killed in a bombing incident.
Since September 23, Israel has escalated its bombing of targets in Lebanon.
Amid intensified airstrikes by Israel in Lebanon, Bangladesh, like many other nations, started repatriating its nationals from the war-torn country. Around one lakh Bangladeshis work in the West Asian country.
Officials said that a list of around 2,000 Bangladeshis had been prepared for repatriation in the first phase.
According to Bangladesh鈥檚 Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training statistics, at least 2,67,364 Bangladeshis migrated to the country since 2002. Of them, 61,786 migrated since 2015.聽