200 more Bangladeshis return from Maldives

A fresh batch of 200 Bangladesh citizens have returned home from Maldives, where they were stranded for over a month due to flight suspension amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

A special flight from Male, the capital of Maldives, landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at around 6pm, local time, on Tuesday, a top airport security official told Dhaka Tribune.

The returnees were all sent to quarantine after they went through the mandatory thermal scanning at the airport, an airport health official said.

Earlier on May 30, 195 Bangladeshi citizens returned from the Maldives on a special flight.

So far, 1,595 Bangladeshis who were undocumented or irregular workers in the Maldives have returned home, according to airport sources.

In the Indian Ocean archipelago, Bangladeshis make the highest number of Covid-19 patients.

According to the Health Protection Agency of the Maldivian Ministry of Health, of the country’s total Covid-19 cases, which is 1,829 as of Tuesday, 1,003 are Bangladeshi migrants, while 590 are Maldivians.