Expatriates' Welfare Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday said in case of emergency the Bangladeshi migrants in Iraq would be able to take shelter in Iran.
“We have asked Bangladesh Embassy in Iran to make arrangements and plan to set up camps on Iran borders,” the minister told reporters after a meeting of the Migration Crisis Observation Committee at the ministry in Probashi Kallyan Bhaban yesterday.
Expat Secretary Khandakar Showkat Hossain, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission, Dhaka Sarat Das, among others, attended the meeting.
Mosharraf, however, stated that there was no necessity at the moment to evacuate the Bangladeshis from Iraq.
“We are fully prepared to bring back our migrants if necessary,” the minister said.
Khandker Mosharraf further said: “The IOM helped us in evacuating Bangladeshis from Libya and it will help us the same way if we need to evacuate Bangladeshis from Iraq.”
He urged the Bangladeshi expatriates to stay calm and safe in Iraq.
The government had brought back around 36,000 Bangladeshis from Libya in 2011 with the assistance of the IOM.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Sarat Das said: “We have discussed the evacuation of Bangladeshis in Iraq if necessary. We would provide assistance if evacuation becomes necessary.”
According to the Expatriates' Welfare Ministry, there are around 25,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers in Iraq. But unofficial sources said the number was even higher.
Earlier, the secretary concerned said around 1,500 Bangladeshis in Mosul were at risk, but those in Nazaf, Karbala and southern Iraq were safe.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Iraq shifted 51 migrants to Kurdistan from Mosul. Some of them fled away.
Mosharraf said: “We took preparation to bring them back but they are unwilling to return.”
The Bangladeshi migrants are passing days in fear and anxiety as sectarian clash between Sunni insurgents and Shia people favoured by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki swept over a large part of the country's north area in the past two weeks.
The Bangladesh Embassy on Friday set up two hot-lines to assist the expatriates in Baghdad. The numbers are 00964-7816601805 and 00964-7814238351.
