The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that approximately 800 Nepali students have left Bangladesh for Nepal by air or via land border points as of Saturday.
“The Embassy of Nepal in Dhaka has coordinated with most of the students to facilitate their safe travel from various places in Bangladesh to Dhaka airport or to related border points,” the ministry said in a post on X late evening on Saturday. “It has been closely coordinating with universities, concerned authorities, and law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh.”
The ministry reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring safety and security of all Nepali students in the South Asian country that has witnessed violent agitation in the past one week.
Bangladeshi students intensified their agitation against the quotas for government jobs, which included 30 percent reservation for the families of those who fought for independence from Pakistan.
The Bangladesh government has ordered all offices and institutions to stay closed for two days after over 120 people were killed this week during the protests, according to international news agencies.
In the capital city Dhaka, the epicentre of the protests, security forces have set up roadblocks to enforce a curfew.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government has made arrangements for Nepali students to return home from Bangladesh. “As per the demand of the students’ family members, arrangements have been made to repatriate 17 students studying at Savar-based Enam Medical College via Dhaka airport at 4 am on Sunday,” Prime Minister Oli wrote on social media late on Saturday evening.
He said he took the initiative after meeting family members of some students in Bangladesh.
He has also asked the concerned people to fill up the online forms as arranged by the ministry of foreign affairs.
The family members had urged the government to take immediate measures to rescue the students saying that they were unable even to contact their children as telephone services and other networks were cut off in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, posting an ‘urgent notice’ on X, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba urged the students, their guardians and kin to submit applications through the online link arranged by the ministry for the same purpose.
Over 3,500 Nepali students are currently pursuing different courses in Bangladesh, with most of them studying various medical courses.
Contacts to reach the embassy
Yojana Bamjan, second secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Dhaka: +8801880691013
13.12°C Kathmandu
