Sixty one Bangladeshi smuggled victims who were rescued by the Malaysian authorities from the Andaman Sea last month, returned home on Thursday evening.
BM Jamal Hosssain, Director of Welfare and MRP at the foreign ministry's consular wing, told reporters that a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the victims reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 5:10pm,
The sixty one Bangladeshis are the first batch among the 715 rescued in the Andaman Sea last month, as their identities have been confirmed through verification, said Hossain.
He further added that the foreign ministry was bearing all the expenses regarding the repatriation of the rescued Bangladeshis from Malaysia and they will be brought back in phases on completion of their nationality verification.
The returnees are from Cox's Bazar, Sirajganj, Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Chuadanga, Joypurhat, Sayedul Islam, Hossain added.