Bangladeshi army assisting in evacuation of Maldivians stranded there, as well as in Nepal

Work is underway to evacuate Maldivians stranded in Bangladesh and Nepal amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the evacuation flights were arranged following the conversation between Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and his Bangladeshi counterpart, AK Abdul Momen.

As such, the Bangladeshi armed forces are to evacuate Maldivians stranded in the South Asian nations.

A flight is to travel to Nepal on Sunday to evacuate the 18 Maldivians there, and will head to Malé after picking up those in Bangladeshi. Noting that Maldivians are dispersed within the country, the ministry said that the Bangladeshi armed forces has been taking them to Dhaka, from where the evacuation flight is to depart.

51 Maldivians are to be evacuated from Bangladesh.

Noting that it has been working to evacuate Maldivians stranded abroad, the foreign ministry said that the evacuation of Maldivians in Nepal and Bangladesh was facilitated after two telephonic conversations between the foreign ministers.

Minister Shahid tweeted that he is “glad” to announce that Maldivians stranded in Nepal and Bangladesh “will soon have the opportunity to return home via evacuation flight”.

He emphasized that this “is testimony to the close cooperation between the governments of Maldives and Bangladesh”, and praised the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Bangladeshi armed forces.

While there are a number of Maldivians that wish to return, the government has facilitated the return of over a thousand already including from Sri Lanka, India, Philippines and Malaysia.

They are all quarantined upon arrival, as per authorities' decision to quarantine all returnees on March 21, and are tested for Covid-19 before release.