Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has disclosed that so far 370 Bangladeshi students, now stranded in China due to outbreak of deadly coronavirus, have registered with Bangladesh mission in Beijing to return home, reports state news agency BSS.
“So far 370 Bangladeshi students, mostly from Wuhan (the epicenter of the virus outbreak), have registered to show their willingness to return here,” he told reporters after attending the closing ceremony of Bangladesh Development Forum 2020 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital.
The foreign minister added that fifteen Bangladeshi students informed the Beijing mission that they don’t want to return home to avoid any possibilities to transmit the disease in Bangladesh. However, no Bangladeshi national has so far been infected, he said.
Momen said that the Chinese authorities informed Bangladesh that they will bear all expenses of treatment if any foreigner is affected by the virus.
Replying to a query when Bangladeshi students can return, the foreign minister said, “We are ready to take them ... when the Chinese government allows us, we will bring them back.”
The Chinese government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities, effectively trapping more than 50 million people, including thousands of foreigners, for 14 days in a bid to contain the virus.
“We are waiting for the Chinese government’s date to bring back our students … but we don’t want to overplay on the issue,” Momen said.
After getting approval from China, the minister said the students will be brought from Wuhan to the airport by bus, while Bangladesh will send a charted aircraft to bring back its nationals.
Momen said the health ministry has taken preparations to make space in hospitals to monitor the China returnee students.
Replying to another question, the foreign minister said Bangladesh has no plan to impose any travel ban to or from China.
As per the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the foreign ministry has taken all preparations and even readied an aircraft to bring back Bangladeshi citizens who are ‘willing to return’ from China.
So far, the death toll due to coronavirus soared to 170 and confirmed infections neared 7711.