A total of 70,427 workers have returned to Bangladesh from various countries in the last four and half months, according to data from the Expatriates’ Welfare Desk at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
“A total of 70,427 workers returned home from 23 countries between April 1 and August 18, 2020. Among them, 67,119 are male and 3,308 are female,” Assistant Director of the Expatriates’ Welfare Desk Md Fakhrul Alam told BSS on Monday.
The workers have returned from abroad for various reasons, such as job cut due to Covid-19 and expiry of visas or Akamas. Many of them are jail returnees, he added.
According to the data, the highest number of workers returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A total of 23,502 workers have returned from the UAE, 12,950 from Saudi Arabia, 7,759 from Maldives, 7,329 from Kuwait, 3,645 from Oman, 1,382 from Singapore, 746 from Bahrain, 71 from South Africa, 6,068 from Qatar, 1,838 from Malaysia, 100 from South Korea, 20 from Thailand, 39 from Myanmar, 481 from Jordan, 1,419 from Iraq, 122 from Vietnam, 80 from Sri Lanka, 151 from Italy, 444 from Lebanon, 100 from Russia, 20 from Mauritius and 40 from Cambodia.
Many of the workers plan to re-join their workplaces abroad after the situation becomes normal, officials concerned said.