Staff Reporter : Three hundred and thirty seven Bangladeshis, who trapped in war-torn Yemen, returned home on early Sunday. Two special fights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Bangladeshis landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka around 4:30am and 5:15am. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam received them at the airport, foreign office sources said. On Saturday, they were evacuated from Yemen and brought to south Indian port city of Kochi by two ships. The Bangladeshi nationals reached Kochi at around 1:30pm (local time) by two Indian passenger ships from Djibouti. Two warships of the Indian Navy escorted the ships — MV Kavaratti and MV Corals — carrying the Bangladeshis. The 337 Bangladeshis reached Djibouti from Yemen on April 5 and departed from the African country on April 12. Apart from the Bangladeshis, 65 Yemenis of Indian origin were in the two ships. India had launched a massive air and sea evacuation operation late last month to bring back its nationals stranded in Yemen. The country positively responded to Bangladesh’s request to help it bring home the Bangladeshis stranded in the Middle Eastern country. A total of 500 Bangladeshis have been relocated to the African country, Djibouti, from Yemen since April 3. As India wrapped up its evacuation operation, Bangladesh plans to repatriate the remaining 136 Bangladeshis from Djibouti by a special Biman flight. Earlier, 26 expatriates returned home from Yemen.
