From Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil
DHAKA, July 23 (Bernama) -- The AirAsia flight AK77, which was deployed to evacuate Malaysians in Bangladesh, has safely landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here at 9.20 am local time.
All evacuees were already waiting at the airport to board the specially chartered Airbus A320, which was arranged under the directive of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The flight is scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur at 10 am local time.
Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Haznah Md Hashim, was present to send them off.
According to Foreign Ministry’s South and Central Asia Division undersecretary Datuk Dr Shazelina Zainul Abidin, who leads the mission, most evacuees stayed overnight at the Malaysian High Commission here.
The flight to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 2 will take three hours and 55 minutes and is expected to land at approximately 4.10 pm Malaysian time.
The evacuees are expected to be greeted by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail upon arrival.
Yesterday, Anwar said the government has decided to bring back all Malaysians in Bangladesh due to security concerns following escalating tensions in this country.
The mission involves 15 officers of the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Department and the National Security Council.
Thousands of students in Bangladesh have been protesting since July 1 after a court reinstated the quota for public sector jobs that had been abolished in 2018.
The Bangladesh government imposed a nationwide curfew last Saturday in response to the increasing violence and demonstrations.
Malaysia is the second country after India to evacuate its citizens following the violent protests that have claimed over 130 lives since mid-July.
Yesterday, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir reportedly said that the ministry would collaborate with the Foreign Ministry to provide every assistance, including counselling, accommodation and logistics support, to Malaysians brought back from strife-torn Bangladesh.
-- BERNAMA
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