Bangladesh has repatriated 105 stranded citizens from war-torn Lebanon. These individuals, who had been seeking to return home voluntarily, arrived on Thursday at 11:00 pm via Emirates Airlines flight EK-584, with the entire cost covered by the government, according to a press release on Friday. Despite ceasefire Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon continue The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) collaborated to facilitate this operation. Officials ensured a seamless return for the group, marking another step in the government’s ongoing efforts to assist citizens impacted by the conflict, it said. Earlier this week, the government also brought back 40 individuals on December 3 and 64 individuals on December 4. This latest flight brings the total number of repatriated Bangladeshis from Lebanon to 963 across 15 flights. Displaced people return to south Lebanon as ceasefire appears to hold Upon arrival at the airport, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, and IOM welcomed the returnees. IOM provided each individual with Tk 5,000 as pocket money, food items, and basic medical assistance. Ministry officials also spoke with the returnees to learn about their experiences during the conflict and offer support. Tragically, one Bangladeshi has been reported killed in a bombing in Lebanon. The government remains committed to repatriating all Bangladeshi expatriates willing to return from Lebanon amid the ongoing conflict. The Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut continues to work tirelessly to ensure the safe return of those desiring repatriation and to guarantee the safety of those choosing to stay, added the release.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained five Bangladeshis who had illegally entered India and were attempting to return home through the Beanibazar border in Sylhet on Thursday. The detainees are Ayesha Khatun, 37, wife of Mintu Sheikh of Kadmari village in Benapole of Jashore; Roksana Khatun, 40, wife of Lal Mia of the same area; Rumana, 21, wife of Badsha Sheikh of Brahmanbaria; Badsha Sheikh, 27; their three-year-old son Mahdi Islam. According to a media release from the BGB, a patrol team detained them at the border near Barotal adjacent to pillar no-1359/5 under Beanibazar upazila along the Bangladesh-India border early Thursday. Read: BGB detains 47 Bangladeshi nationals near Maheshpur border of Jhenaidah During interrogation, the detainees informed that they had intruded into India illegally on December 3 through Bagara border in Cumilla with the help of brokers. They were caught by Indian police at a customs checkpoint in Tripura while traveling by bus to Guwahati. After being detained for two days, they attempted to return to Bangladesh, the BGB release said. The detainees were handed over to the relevant police station while a case was filed in this connection, the release added.

Five Bangladeshis returned home from India on Thursday morning after serving two years jail there. The returnees are-.Palash Sheel, 36, son of Naresh Sheel of Nawabganj in Dhaka, Baby Begum, 32, daughter of Bahar Uddin of Bagerhat district, Shirin Begum, 33, daughter of A Salam of Mymensingh district, Rita Mandal, 39, daughter of Hasmat Ali of Sherpur district, Ayub Ali, 36, son of Zafar Ali of Cox’s Bazar district. Indian Petropole Immigration police handed them over to Benapole immigration police through Benapole checkpost in the morning, said Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of Benapole Immigration Police. Also read: Man held with 9 gold bars in Benapole The OC said Indian police arrested them two years ago as they entered India without any valid documents.  

The government has taken measures to bring back Bangladeshi citizens stranded in Sudan, through Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Seheli Sabrin said that at first the Bangladeshi nationals will be taken to Port Sudan from Khartoum, and from there they will be taken to Jeddah. Later, they will be brought to Bangladesh by several flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The Bangladesh Embassy in Khartoum has already arranged nine buses to take the Bangladeshi nationals to Port Sudan from Khartoum and adjacent cities and a team from Bangladesh’s Consulate General in Jeddah will reach there to assist them. All the Bangladeshis, stranded in Sudan, will be taken to Port Sudan by May 2. Also read: Bangladeshis stuck in Sudan to be repatriated: MoFA The Bangladeshi nationals are likely to reach Jeddah by May 3 or May 4. Two Bangladeshi schools in Jeddah are providing food, drink, medicine and temporary accommodation for the Bangladeshi nationals being brought from Sudan. Earlier, on April 25, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said a decision has been made to evacuate Bangladeshi nationals from Sudan through other countries. “The Bangladesh Embassy in Khartoum has already started spreading this message among the Bangladeshis living there,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Read More: Heavy clashes rock Sudan’s capital despite truce extension The state minister urged the Bangladeshi nationals in Sudan to follow the instructions provided by the embassy and complete registration. Meanwhile, a number of Bangladeshi nationals were evacuated by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. More than 420 people, including at least 291 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting erupted between Sudanese military and the country’s largest paramilitary force last week, AP reports. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the situation in Sudan a “catastrophic conflagration” that could engulf the whole region. Read More: Sudan conflict: 187 more people including Bangladeshis evacuated

Chargé d'affaires at Bangladesh Mission in Sudan, Tareq Ahmed, has said the safety and security situation in the area where the Bangladesh Embassy and Bangladesh House are located, is still volatile. "Our staff were unable to get access to the embassy premises as of today," he told UNB early today. The chief of Bangladesh mission said they are organising evacuation of expatriate Bangladeshis in Sudan. Also Read: Bangladesh to evacuate nationals from Sudan through other countries: Shahriar Alam "Nothing is final though, we are expecting it to be carried out by this month or early next month. We are compiling information of our expatriates interested to be evacuated now," he said. Also Read: MoFA advisory out against travelling to Sudan Responding to a question, the envoy said all the western countries have relocated their embassy officials, but embassies of India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and a few others, including Bangladesh, are still operational. Also Read: Sudan conflict: 91 including Bangladeshis evacuated "We, all the officials and their families, are outside capital at a safe place," he said, adding that the situation remains unpredictable in Khartoum, although they are receiving some information of some improvement in a few areas.  

Four Bangladeshi nationals, all hailing from Faridpur, have been  missing since the deadly shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, causing  extreme anxiety and worry to their families. The missing Bangladeshi nationals are -Al Amin Matubbar, 20, son of Mostafa Matubbar, Mahfuz Molla, 22, son of Sobahan Molla, Nazmul Molla 23, son of Esken Molla and Akramul Bepari, 27, son of Seken Bepari- all are resident of Nagarkanda upazila of the district, said their families. All the youths left the country to go to Italy illegally spending Tk 8 to 10 lakh  through brokers, they said. Thirty people feared drowned after a boat from Libya capsized in bad weather on Sunday. A total 17 others were rescued in the shipwreck incident and brought ashore by the Italian authorities on Monday, reports Reuters. Those rescued, who were originally from Bangladesh  were taken to the Sicilian town of Pozzallo, Italian newswire ANSA reported. Chameli Begum, 38, mother of missing Al-Amin Matubbar, said that her son left the country two months ago to go to Italy. He boarded a trawler from Libya on Thursday after travelling many countries. Locals alleged  Murad Fakir and four others- Farhad Fakir of Mashaujan village, Liton Sardar and Abul Hossain of Bilgobindapur village and Quader Matubbar of Basagari area, are involved in human trafficking . Kazi Abul Kalam, Dangi Union Parishad chairman, said that Murad is a human trafficker who has sent at least 200 youths abroad illegally. Miraj Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Nagarkanda Police Station, said that no complaint has been lodged yet regarding this matter.

In 2022, EU+ countries received some 966,000 applications, including 34, 000 from Bangladeshis, for international protection, up more than 50 percent from 2021, and the most since 2016, according to the new analysis of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). The largest applicant groups were Syrians, Afghans and Turks, but applications were also high for a wide range of other nationalities, while the caseload of applications pending decision hit its highest level since 2017. The EUAA analysis represents a significant increase in 2021, by around half, and is owed in part to the removal of Covid-related restrictions and longer-term underlying trends such as conflicts and food insecurity in many regions of origin, resulting in strong push factors. Furthermore, secondary movements within the EU and significant numbers of applications by nationals from visa-free countries who arrived legally contributed as well. It comes in addition to around 4 million people fleeing Ukraine who benefit from temporary protection. In activating the Temporary Protection Directive, the decision to offer a dedicated channel that does not require an individual examination of protection needs prevented the collapse of Europe's asylum systems. However, the combined five million people seeking protection in Europe have placed its national reception systems under considerable pressure. Syrians (132,000) and Afghans (129,000) remained by far the largest applicant groups, and nationals of both countries lodged substantially more applications than in 2021, in fact, the most since 2016. The EUAA recently issued Country Guidance on Syria and Afghanistan, with conclusions largely substantiating the protection needs of Syrian nationals, and finding inter alia that restrictions placed on Afghan women by the Taliban amount to persecution. With more than doubling numbers, Turkish applicants (55,000) became the third largest group. They were followed by Venezuelans (51,000) and Colombians (43, 000), who both lodged about three times as many applications as in 2021. Read more: Apparel export to EU grew 15.04 % during July-Jan of FY23 Turks, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bangladeshis (34,000), and Georgians (29,000) all applied the most on record. At lower levels, record applications were also lodged by citizens of India (26,000), Morocco (22,000), Tunisia (21,000), Egypt (15, 000), Moldova (8,300), and several others. In 2022, EU+ asylum authorities issued some 632,000 decisions at first instance, up by a fifth from 2021.However, applications increased by far more – in fact outnumbering them by about 333,000 – resulting in the largest gap since 2015. It largely translated into an increase in pending cases at first instance. At the end of the year, some 636, 000 cases were awaiting a decision at first instance, a 44 percent increase compared to 2021. The EU+ recognition rate was 40 percent in 2022, up by five percentage points from 2021 and the most in five years. Of the two-in-five applicants receiving a positive decision at first instance, around 147 000 were granted refugee status and 106 000 received subsidiary protection. Recognition rates were especially high for Syrians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Eritreans, Yemenis, and Malians. In contrast, recognition rates were especially low for citizens of India, North Macedonia, Moldova, Vietnam, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Nepal among others. Equipped with a strengthened mandate to support the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), in 2022 the Agency substantially increased its technical and operational support. The number of countries benefiting from the EUAA Operational Support has quadrupled to 13 EU member states since just 2019, with over 1,500 deployed personnel. The agency is also providing support in a third country, Moldova.

Romania is likely to issue visas to more than 15,000 Bangladesh citizens from March to September this year, said a foreign ministry spokesperson Thursday. Last year a consular team from Romania stayed in Dhaka for three months and issued around 5,400 visas. As the mission was run successfully, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen sent a letter to his Romanian counterpart requesting him to operate another consular mission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesperson Seheli Sabrin said during a weekly briefing. "After that, Romania showed interest in running a consular mission in Dhaka for six months from March to September to facilitate the issuance of visas to Bangladeshis," she added. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making all the arrangements for the operation of the consular mission of Romania in Dhaka, Seheli said.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan on Sunday said a total of 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis will be able to perform hajj this year. “The quota for hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh this year is 1, 27, 198,” he said in reply to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP elected from Chattogram M Abdul Latif. In a scripted answer, the state minister said the quota for hajj pilgrims for Bangladesh was 58,628 in 2009, which was increased to around 1.27 lakh in 2019. Also Read: Over 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis likely to perform Hajj this year, Deal with KSA on Jan 9   He also said due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the quota for Bangladeshis was deceased to 60,146 pilgrims in 2022 like other countries in the world. Faridul Haque Khan said overall the quota for hajj pilgrims has increased by 148% from 2009 to 2023 which is a big milestone of the success of the current government.      

The government will sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia on January 9 on Hajj and it hopes that over 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis will be able to perform Hajj this year if the previous quota is upheld by the KSA government. Mohammad Anowar Hossain, senior public relations officer of the Religious Affairs Ministry, told UNB that a three- member team led by State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan will leave for Saudi Arabia on January 7. The Bangladeshi state minister and Saudi Hajj and Umarh Affairs Minister Dr Tawfiq Bin Al Rabiah will  sign the agreement on the behalf of their respective countries. According to the officials concerned of the ministry, the Saudi government may allow some 1, 27, 198 Bangladeshis to perform Hajj this year considering its population and the improved Covid-19 situation. Of them, 15, 000 people will perform the Hajj under government management while 1, 12, 198 under private management, the public relations officer said adding that a draft has been prepared as per the plan. Besides, Bangladesh will request to lift the embargo which restricts people over 65 years to perform Hajj, he said. Read more: A hajj closer to normal: 1 million Muslims begin pilgrimage On November 13, 2022, Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral document on ‘Route to Mecca’ which will ease  visit of Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims to the kingdom. Under Route to Mecca service agreement, Pilgrims would be able to complete their immigration in Dhaka prior to their departure to Saudi Arabia. According to the ministry, 1, 27,000 people from Bangladesh performed Hajj in 2019 while the KSA government increased quota for Bangladeshi pilgrims by 10,000 in 2020. But Hajj was not held in the year for Covid-19 pandemic. Only 60,000 people from Bangladesh were allowed to join the Hajj in 2022 as the Saudi government halved the quotas for pilgrims in different countries. Read more: PM opens Hajj conference and fair