Bring Bangladeshis back from Afghanistan as soon as possible

We hope the foreign ministry will adhere to its commitment to bring back the Bangladeshis stranded in Afghanistan within a week. According to government accounts, there were 29 Bangladeshis working in Afghanistan as employees of the non-government organisation BRAC and with government development programmes including telecommunications. BRAC has been operating its various development projects in Afghanistan for years. Besides, a number of Bangladeshi engineers have been working in the country’s largest telecommunication service Afghan Wireless.

After the collapse of the former government of Ashraf Ghani followed by the Taliban takeover of power on 15 August, the situation in the country took a new turn. Although Taliban leaders have repeatedly assured that the security of foreign nationals will be ensured, the situation remains uncertain. The Taliban have noted form the government yet.

Their state state policy remains unclear. In this situation it is natural that the stranded Bangladeshis and their families are in deep anxiety. From the beginning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been making diplomatic efforts to bring back the Bangladeshis.

On a note of hope, five Bangladeshis have managed to leave Kabul, three of them with the assistance of the United Nations while two with US help. The two who were rescued by US authorities used to work at the US military base. Although the border or Afghanistan and Uzbekistan was closed, air communication was open.

Bangladesh embassy in Afghanistan closed down a few years ago due to the war situation in the country. Bangladesh embassy in Uzbekistan used to look after diplomatic issues with Afghanistan. After the recent crisis emerged, Bangladesh foreign ministry has asked the stranded Bangladeshis to communicate with the embassy in Tashkent.

Bangladeshi ambassador to Uzbekistan, Jahangir Alam, told Prothom Alo that the authorities responded positively to the request for transit to bring Bangladeshis back to Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government issued visas to two Bangladeshis within an hour. If the rest of the Bangladeshis in Kabul want to return to the country through Uzbekistan, there will be no problem with visas. However, some Bangladeshis living in Afghanistan have stated that they are not willing to return to the country at present. They want to monitor the situation for a few more days.

After the Taliban took over Kabul on 15 August, the policy of the Bangladesh government to monitor the situation there without making any hasty decision was realistic. It would not be right to take any decision about Afghanistan that could harm our national interests or have a negative impact on geopolitics.

We hope that this diplomacy of the government will be successful and all the citizens who wish to leave Afghanistan will be able to return home safely. We expect adept and strong diplomatic efforts from the government in this regard.