Staff Reporter :
A batch of 242 Bangladeshi citizens, who got stranded in the USA amid the coronavirus pandemic, returned home on Sunday.
The Bangladeshis include mostly students studying in different colleges and universities in the USA, Bangladesh citizens who went there on tourist and business visas and some government and non-government officials.
A special flight of Qatar Airlines which took off from Washington Dulles
International Airport (IAD) at 11pm on Friday landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the early hours.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US and embassy officials saw them off at the airport.
On May 4, the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs chartered the flight of Qatar Airlines to bring home the stranded Bangladeshis from the USA.
Earlier on March 30, the Bangladesh Embassy and the two Consulates General in New York and Los Angeles on an instruction of the Foreign Ministry circulated a notice through their websites seeking information from the Bangladeshis who had been stranded in the USA amid COVID-19 pandemic situation.
A large number of stranded Bangladeshi citizens provided their information through email to Bangladesh Missions from March 30 to April 30 showing interest to return to Bangladesh by a special charter flight at their own expenses.
They also requested the Bangladesh government through the Bangladesh Missions to facilitate their return by a special flight.
