Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladeshis in Swaziland are now better protected as the situation there is now under control.

“Now things are under control… the situation is peaceful,” he said, mentioning that the shops of some Bangladeshis were looted during the initial movement there.

Read: Protests in Swaziland: Dhaka in constant touch with Mission

The Foreign Minister said there are some affluent Bangladeshis who gave shelter to others and police also said they will take care of them.

Dr Momen said it is a 20-minute journey from Swaziland to South Africa, and the Bangladeshis will get support, if required.

Earlier, Mashfee Binte Shams, Secretary (East) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told UNB the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is in constant touch with the Bangladesh Mission in South Africa to help Bangladeshis in Swaziland who are worried over the current situation there.

She said the Bangladesh Mission in South Africa will facilitate if any Bangladesh national requires any support.

Read: Bangladesh to receive 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month

There are around 1,500 Bangladesh nationals in Swaziland.

Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini, is still commonly known in English as Swaziland and it is a landlocked country in Southern Africa.

It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, and south.

Pro-democracy protesters in Eswatini have defied an overnight curfew to call for constitutional reforms as tensions increase in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

Demonstrations flared in the tiny and landlocked kingdom previously known as Swaziland, with protesters taking to the streets in the two largest cities of Manzini and Mbabane, reports Al Jazeera.