Nepali students started arriving home from Bangladesh via land border or by air following violent anti-government protests in Bangladesh over the past few days.

By Sunday evening, more than 1,200 students have returned to Nepal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on social media. Of these 420 crossed into Nepal on Sunday alone, the ministry said.

It was difficult to get updates on the Nepali students in Bangladesh as telecommunication and internet services have been disrupted.

Suja Chhetri of Kathmandu, a student at a dental college in Rangapur in northwestern Bangladesh, arrived in Kakadbhitta on Sunday morning. “We returned home after our college transported us up to the Banglabandha border point. Many Nepali students from Dhaka and other cities are returning home,” said Chhetri, whom the Post met on the premises of the Immigration Office at Kakadbhitta on Sunday.

Some students directly landed in Kathmandu by air while the majority are returning through land routes.

According to the Immigration Office in Kakadbhitta, more and more Nepali students have been arriving through Kakadbhitta over the past one week. As per the data provided by the office, 85 students entered Nepal on Thursday, and 114 and 141 students arrived in Jhapa on Friday and Saturday, respectively. On Sunday, more than 305 students came home through the Banglabandha border point.

“Around 700 students have returned home through Kakadbhitta over the past one week. The arrival of Nepali students via land routes is expected to continue for a few more days,” said Mohan Lal Paneru, chief at the Immigration Office in Kakadbhitta.

Over 3,500 Nepali students are currently pursuing various courses in Bangladesh, with most enrolled in medical and agricultural courses.

Bibisha Neupane of Kathmandu, who has been studying in Rangapur-based Community Medical College, said Nepali students have been cut off from their families and relatives due to the protests. “We lost contact with our families when telecommunication and internet services were cut off. I called my family immediately after arriving in Kakadbhitta and they were relieved,” said Neupane.

Bangladeshi students have intensified their protest against government job quotas, which includes a 30 percent reservation for the families of those who fought for independence from Pakistan in 1971. The protests flared up in Dhaka.

“There was not much impact from the protest in our area [Rangapur], but our college sent us home citing security reasons,” said Neupane. According to her, some Nepali students are still at the hostel.

The border of Bangladesh is around 35 kilometres from Kakadbhitta, Jhapa. Nepali students are returning home through the Phulbari-Banglabandha border point between Bangladesh and India.

Meanwhile, a total of 56 Nepali students returned home by air from Bangladesh on Sunday. They landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, on a Biman Bangladesh flight.

According to Amrit Bahadur Rai, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport at 11:30am.

“We were expecting 17 students, but 56 have arrived,” he said. “We have deployed officials from the ministry to the airport.” Rai said exact details of the plight of Nepali students is hard to establish due to communication issues with the Nepali embassy in Bangladesh. “The telephone connection there is poor, and the internet is down,” Rai said.

Bangladesh witnessed violent agitation in the past week. The government clamped curfew on Friday to control the violent student protests that have killed over 150 people. The curfew was extended on Sunday for an indefinite time following a two-hour relaxation to allow people to stock up on essentials, among other things.

“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 of Foreign Affairs 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.

Meanwhile, posting an ‘urgent notice’ on X, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba urged the students, their guardians and kin to submit rescue applications through the online link (https://mofa.gov.np) arranged by the ministry.

Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi Supreme Court on Sunday ordered that the quota for veterans’ descendants be cut to 5 percent, with 93 percent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 percent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.