After violent student protests in Bangladesh over government job quotas in Bangladesh, which have killed nearly two dozen people this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Nepali students studying in Bangladesh are safe.

“In the context of the unfolding situation in Bangladesh, the Nepal government is fully aware about the safety and well-being of all Nepali students studying there. So far Nepali students are safe with the help of the relevant universities and colleges, and the Dhaka-based Nepali embassy, and efforts are ongoing to ease their situation,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

According to Amrit Rai, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Nepali students pursuing higher studies in Bangladesh have started heading for home via India by land routes.

He added that we have received information that Nepali students are returning in chartered buses from Bangladesh via India, and they will probably reach the Nepal border by Saturday.

“It is said that they are coming in four chartered buses from Bangladesh via India. We have already spoken with the Indian authorities to facilitate their return,” said Rai.

After violent protests, authorities had cut some mobile services on Thursday to try to quell the unrest but the disruption spread across the country on Friday morning, Reuters witnesses in Dhaka and New Delhi said.

Foreign Minister Arzu Rana called Ghanshyam Bhandari, the Nepali Ambassador to Bangladesh on Friday and inquired about the situation of Nepali students in Bangladesh, according to a foreign ministry official.

Minister Rana instructed the ambassador to ensure that Nepali students face no inconvenience and difficulties and their safety be proritised. She also urged him to coordinate with relevant agencies to ensure their safety.

Ambassador Bhandari assured Minister Rana that all Nepali students are safe and informed her that the embassy has issued an advisory urging Nepali students not to venture out from their places, universities and colleges.

Telephone calls from overseas were mostly not getting connected and calls through the internet could not be completed, said the Reuters report, adding, “websites of several Bangladesh-based newspapers were not updating on Friday morning and their social media handles were also not active.”

Protesters are demanding the state stop setting aside 30 percent of government jobs for the families of people who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Hasina’s government had scrapped the quota system in 2018, but a high court reinstated it last month. The government appealed against the verdict, and the Supreme Court suspended the high court order, pending a hearing of the government’s appeal on August 7.

After violent protests erupted, the Nepali Embassy in Dhaka issued an advisory for Nepali students studying in Bangladesh regarding their safety.

The embassy urged students to stay indoors and obey the instructions of their respective university and college administrations.

“The students are also requested to contact the embassy in case the administrators ask them to move to safer places or if the situation at their current accommodation is unsafe,” the notice reads.

The embassy also said that it is closely monitoring the situation and is in constant contact with concerned government agencies and college administrative bodies to ensure the safety of Nepali students.

According to a Times of India report, 198 students from India, including 67 from Meghalaya and 131 from other states, 101 from Nepal, seven students from Bhutan and four foreign tourists have entered India through the Dawki Land Port since the clashes broke out in Bangladesh.

The report said Meghalaya, which shares a 443 km border with Bangladesh, has arranged for the students from the troubled country, even as several of them arrived at the Dawki Land Port on the India—Bangladesh border on their own on Thursday.

Rai said that students who have arrived in India will enter Nepal via two entry points. The students have already been asked to register with the Indian authorities, he said.

Over 3,500 Nepali students are currently pursuing different courses in Bangladesh, where most of them are in the medical sector.

Contacts to reach the embassy

Yojana Bamjan, second secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Dhaka: +8801880691013

Riya Chhetri: +8801745407958