Stranded Bangladesh citizens in a fix in Port of Sudan

Over 650 Bangladeshis are reportedly passing hard times in the Port of Sudan, as the authorities concerned have allegedly failed to arrange ships in three days to shift them to Jeddah.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said non-cooperation of a group of Bangladeshis caused the delay, whereas some stranded Bangladeshis cited mismanagement of the Bangladesh mission officials as the main reason.
The Bangladeshis were evacuated from the battle-torn Khartoum on Tuesday. They were supposed to be shifted to Jeddah from the Port of Sudan by ship on Wednesday.
But the Bangladesh mission officials failed to do that. They informed the MoFA that the Saudi Authorities told them that all the Bangladeshis would have to be shifted together.
"The mission officials planned to shift the passport holders in the first phase. But since the officials were asked to shift all the Bangladeshis together, they had to prepare travel permits for those who did not have legal documents," an official of the ministry said while explaining why none was shifted to Jeddah on Wednesday.
But on the day, the Bangladeshis were told that 100-120 of them would be shifted, and women and their families would be given priority.
According to some Bangladeshis, apart from women and their families, the authorities tried to include some other people in the first batch, causing resentment among the stranded Bangladeshis.
"Consequently many of us got agitated and there were altercations among us in the camp over the issue. At one stage, policemen were called to control the situation," a stranded Bangladeshi, who preferred not to be named, told the FE over telephone.
"Till now we do not know when they can arrange ship for shifting us," he added.
Another Bangladeshi told the FE that they were suffering from non-availability of pure drinking water and food.
"We are given bread and banana for breakfast and khichuri for dinner, but the quantity of food is not at all sufficient," he complained, urging the authorities to take steps to bring them back as soon as possible.
Many of the stranded Bangladeshis alleged that they were not properly taken care of by the mission officials.
About the allegation that they could not be shifted due to non-cooperation of a group among them, he said it was baseless.
"Let them clarify what cooperation they asked from us and what we did," he added.
A senior MoFA official told the FE that there was possibility that the stranded Bangladeshis would be shifted to Jeddah by Friday. But the Bangladeshis said they were told that ship could not be arranged for them.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com