Move to repatriate Bangladeshis from Poland

The government has initiated measures to bring back Bangladeshi citizens, who took refuge in Poland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, as Warsaw recently agreed to provide them a 15-day on arrival visa.

Also, the Bangladeshi expatriates in Poland would be returned home, officials in the Bangladesh embassy in Warsaw confirmed through a notification.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry on Sunday confirmed that more than 400 Bangladeshis have been able to safely cross Ukraine borders to neighboring countries mainly in Poland.

Those coming from Ukraine and already living in Poland will have to sent their names, passport and cell numbers as well as full addresses to the embassy official named Touhid Imam at his WhatsApp number +4915778676376. The details could also be emailed at service.warsaw@mofa.gov.bd at the earliest.

Previously, on February 24, the foreign ministry urged Bangladeshi nationals in Ukraine to contact with the Bangladesh mission in Warsaw through Telephone no: +48572094381 and asked them to move to a safer location and if necessary to Poland. 

As of February 24, some 250 Bangladeshis in Ukraine enlisted them in a WhatsApp group while official estimate suggested another 250 Bangladeshis were currently living there but unofficial estimates suggested the number could be higher than 500.

The notification also urges those, who are still stuck in Ukraine, to send their trace with details to the WhatsApp number +4915778676376 soon.

It requests them to stay wherever they are now in the ex-Soviet country as the International Committee of the Red Cross would rescue and help them reach to the safety along any border. 

On Sunday, the UN said at least 370,000 people have fled the fighting so far and it is planning to deal with up to four million if the situation worsens.

Some 156,000 Ukrainians have fled over the Polish border, its frontier guards say.