71 Maldivians stranded in Bangladesh and Nepal have returned to the Maldives, on Monday evening.

This was done in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives and the Bangladeshi government. They were brought via a flight by the Bangladesh Armed Forces.

As such, the Maldivians who returned from the two countries via special evacuation flights were welcomed by Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, who expressed gratitude to his Bangladeshi counterpart, AK Abdul Momen and the Chief of Army of Bangladesh Aziz Ahmed for the “excellent cooperation” and valuable assistance.

18 students from Nepal were evacuated on Sunday and 53 were picked up from Bangladesh before heading to Maldives.

The group that arrived on Monday also includes 10 health professional from Bangladesh, and the flight will depart from 10 undocumented workers in Maldives.

All arrivals will be quarantined upon arrival in accordance with the government-set protocol for arrivals from March onwards. Further, they will also be tested for Covid-19 before they are released into the society.