The government has decided to operate special flights of national flag-carrier Biman to five countries, including four in the Middle East with high concentration of Bangladeshi expat workers from April 17. As disclosed by Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman on Thursday,  these special flights can be availed to fly to three cities in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah), two of the United Arab Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Oman's Muscat, and Qatar's Doha in the ME, as well as the city-state Singapore. "The passengers who have made reservations for scheduled flights, set to operate after 6am Saturday, are requested to be at the airport with Covid-19 negative certificates six hours before the departure time," she said. Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers The government suspended the operation of all domestic and international passenger flights to restrict the spread of Covid-19 in the country for the duration of the 'all-out lockdown' that came into effect on April 14. However, the special flight services will allow overseas workers currently stuck in Bangladesh for whatever reason to return to their places of work amid the suspension of regular flights. "Special flights will be arranged for the overseas workers who have got stuck in the country following the government's strict lockdown. Bangladeshis who work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Singapore can leave the country under the special arrangements," Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad told UNB on Wednesday. Also read: CAAB to suspend international flights from Apr 14 "The five countries are still open for Bangladesh as there is no problem in those countries," he said. The minister also said, "The recruiting agencies concerned are responsible for bringing the overseas workers with Covid-19 negative certificates to the airport and they'll have to follow health guidelines as well." Answering a query about how many workers have got stuck, the minister said: "It's difficult to say about the exact number but it might be 25000-30,000 as the recruiting agencies claim." Read Over 200 protest flight cancellation at Dhaka airport

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar on Thursday said the High Commission is optimistic that "Chakrir Khoj" job portal will complement the initiatives of the Malaysian government for making the ongoing recalibration programme a success. This initiative is to help the recalibration programme declared by the Malaysian government without prejudice to ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh, said the High Commissioner. The job portal was launched by the High Commission only to facilitate the ongoing legalisation process, as they were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration of Malaysia, during various meetings, to help the Recalibration Programme whatever way possible, Sarwar said in Kuala Lumpur. Read Initiatives taken to help workers get jobs in Malaysia without hassle: Envoy He said the High Commission is optimistic that under the guidance of the Minister for Human Resources of Malaysia and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh, the ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh will be concluded at the earliest. Bangladesh High Commission launched the job portal as part of its responsibility for the greater welfare of Bangladeshi nationals in Malaysia, said the High Commissioner. Considering the importance of the initiative, he said, the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister attended the virtual launching ceremony as the chief guest while State Minister for Foreign Affairs was the special guest.  Read Comprehensive database for migrant workers launched with IOM support Secretary of Bangladesh Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Deputy Director General of Malaysian Department of Labour were also present in the virtual ceremony as special guests. Bangladesh High Commission has recently launched the online job portal "Chakrir Khoj" targeting "only the illegal Bangladeshi workers" in Malaysia to find suitable employers. Moreover, the High Commission has received requests from several Malaysian employers to help them to find suitable Bangladeshi undocumented workers for employment under the recalibration programme, as the ongoing recalibration programme do not allow any third party vendors to help the employers to search for undocumented foreign workers, said the High Commissioner. Read Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17 Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Bangladeshi workers. Many enter the country legally and then stay past their visa’s expiration date. Last year, when the world was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, only 125 Bangladeshis were employed in Malaysia, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). A year before that only 545 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia with jobs. In 2018, the number was 175,927. Read Best Job Searching Websites in Bangladesh In 2019, Bangladeshis expatriates in Malaysia sent back US$1,278.57 million, which was 6.97 percent of the total remittance received that year. Last year, the figure was $1,735.34 million – 7.98 percent of the total inbound remittance, according to BMET. From 1976 to February 2021, officially 1,057,185 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia for work. Read Dhaka seeks KL's support to finalise protocol on manpower recruitment

The government has decided to operate special flights to five countries for carrying Bangladeshi overseas workers amid the lockdown imposed on Wednesday to stem the spread of Coronavirus. “Special flights will be arranged for the overseas workers who have got stuck in the country following the government’s strict lockdown. Bangladeshi workers who work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Singapore can leave the country under the special arrangements,” Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad told UNB on Wednesday. The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) will formulate a work plan in this regard, Imran Ahmad said. Replying to a question when the special flight operation will begin, the minister said, “It can be said that the decision is almost final as we held two meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. There’ll be another meeting on Thursday where the process of operating flights will be finalised.” Also read: Bangladesh put under complete lockdown amid Covid spike The five countries are still open for Bangladesh as there is no problem in those countries, he said.