Around 400 Bangladeshis under serious threat in Tehran, relocation starts: MoFA
We have managed to establish contact with around 100 Bangladeshis in Tehran. We are providing them with financial assistance so they can relocate to safer areas outside the city, acting foreign secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique says
Around 400 Bangladeshis currently residing in Tehran are under serious threat amid Israeli attacks, acting foreign secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique said today (17 June).
"Over 2,000 Bangladeshis live across Iran, of whom around 400 are based in Tehran, including officials of the Bangladesh embassy. We are deeply concerned about their safety," he said at a press conference on the security of Bangladeshi expatriates in Iran.
"You have already been informed that the Radio Tehran office came under Israeli attack yesterday. At least eight Bangladeshi journalists work in the Bangla department of Radio Tehran. They were in the office when the attack occurred, but they were safe," the foreign secretary added.
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He mentioned that Bangladeshi nationals in Tehran have been advised to move to safer locations.
Saying that the relocation process has started, he also mentioned, "We have managed to establish contact with around 100 Bangladeshis in Tehran. We are providing them with financial assistance so they can relocate to safer areas outside the city."
Siddique said the Bangladesh ambassador in Tehran has already left his residence and relocated to a comparatively safer place.
The number of Bangladesh embassy officials and their family members is around 40.
The foreign secretary noted that evacuating from Iran is not a simple task, stating, "Because of the sanctions, transferring money through banking channels is extremely difficult. However, we are actively exploring alternative solutions."
He further said that evacuation through land borders is also not safe.
"At this moment, there is no way to leave Iran [by air]. We have given them [Bangladeshis] instructions to move to a safer place," the foreign secretary told reporters.
Siddique said the government will bear the cost related to evacuation and housing in safer places and they will explore whether they can be sent outside Iran through Pakistan or Turkey if anyone wants to leave by land route.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), among 2,000 Bangladeshis in Iran, significant numbers are permanent residents there as they got married to Iranian girls. Some Bangladeshis are living in the coastal zone, as fishing is their livelihood. None of them has legal documents to stay in Iran.
The foreign secretary said that some undocumented Bangladeshis are in the detention centre. "Some Bangladeshis are also working in medical centres and some are in news media organisations."
About the impact of the war, he said, "Expatriate Bangladeshis would lose their jobs if war continues."
