Home ›› 25 Feb 2022 ›› Front
After Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kiev’s residents including Bangladeshis are fleeing for safety. However, for Bangladeshis the destination is Poland.
The fleeing population is very worried as communications were disrupted after the attack, even the internet is running slow. They are on their own until reaching the Polish border.
A Bangladeshi resident in Kiev said the electricity is fluctuating, the internet system is broken, and there is no way to contact the embassy. Many have already left for Poland while many chose to stay at home. Bangladeshis stationed there also said that all services could be shut down at any time. Schools, colleges, markets are all closed. Occasionally, they are hearing gunshots.
“I am not in a position to say anything. Please pray for us,” said a Bangladeshi student in Kiev. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi government will arrange chartered flights to bring back its nationals who would leave warn-stricken Ukraine and arrive in neighbouring Poland, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Thursday.
“Our first task is to bring our citizens to Poland safely from Ukraine,” he told reporters at his office, adding that they have already talked to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Biman Bangladesh Airlines about the possible evacuation.
The state minister said they will finalize the modalities of evacuation from Poland and if necessary they will talk to foreign airlines too, reports UNB.
“They (Bangladeshis) need to come to the Polish border from Ukraine with their own arrangement,” he said, adding that the Polish government, earlier, assured of providing visas for them to cross the border which is yet to begin.
Poland will allow Bangladeshis to stay for 15 days upon their arrival from Ukraine and the government of Bangladesh hopes to repatriate its citizens much ahead of the timeline.
Shahriar said Bangladesh Embassy in Poland is taking preparations to provide accommodation facilities for Bangladeshis’ stay there until their evacuation.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw approached the Polish government on Thursday morning again to issue arrival visas urgently. “We’re sending additional officials from our missions in Italy and Germany so that required services can be provided to Bangladeshis within the shortest possible time,” said the state minister.
Bangladesh on Thursday asked its nationals in Ukraine “to move to safer places” with Kyiv closing its airspace amid a Russian invasion while the country’s embassy in Poland is exploring ways to give Bangladeshis shelter.
An estimated 500 Bangladeshi nationals, including students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.
