35 Bangladeshis Return from Europe on Special Flight, Receive Emergency Help and Counselling at Airport

Thirty-five Bangladeshis have been sent back from Europe. They arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8:15 on Friday morning on a special chartered flight, according to immigration police and airport sources.

Among the 35 returnees, 19 came from Italy, 10 from Greece and six from Cyprus. Airport sources said the special flight number was PVG 9445.

At Shahjalal International Airport, with the cooperation of Civil Aviation Security and the Expatriates' Welfare Desk, BRAC's Migration Programme provided the returning Bangladeshis with emergency assistance, counselling and financial support to reach their respective homes.

Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union were present at the airport at the time. Several agencies worked together in the process of assisting the returnees.

Airport sources said the 35 Bangladeshis were assisted at the airport under the Prottasha-2 project, jointly funded by the European Union and BRAC. Later, after counselling and training, everyone will be given economic support so they can stand on their feet again.

To bring back undocumented or irregular Bangladeshis from Europe, the Bangladesh government signed a Standard Operating Procedures, or SOP, agreement with European countries in 2017. Under that agreement, about five thousand Bangladeshis have returned so far.

Among those who have returned so far, the largest numbers came from Cyprus, Italy, Romania and France. The origin countries of Friday's flight, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, fall within that same pattern.

BRAC associate director Shariful Hasan said that in the past few years, the largest numbers of people they received returning from Europe came from Italy, Greece and Germany. Those who return are given emergency assistance at the airport, counselling and later economic support so they can recover and restart.

He also said awareness work is underway across the country so people do not take risks to go to Europe. At the same time, he noted, Europe has taken initiatives to recruit workers from Bangladesh through legal channels.

For these returnees, the immediate airport assistance is not the final step. Through counselling and training, followed by economic support, efforts will be made to create a path for them back into normal life, project sources said.

Irregular migration to Europe and the repatriation process have long been an important issue for Bangladesh. Every year many Bangladeshis travel to Europe by risky routes, and a portion of them have to return home in this way.

Alongside arrangements for Friday morning's 35 returnees to reach home, how their next assistance will be provided will now move forward through the Prottasha-2 project's counselling and training process. How far legal worker recruitment initiatives and awareness activities can reduce risky journeys is now a matter of discussion among those concerned.