Stranded nationals to be repatriated in a month: FM

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said Tuesday the stranded nationals will be brought back within the next month, reports UNB.
He said that 738 Bangladeshi would-be migrants were rescued from Malaysian waters in recent days.
"Steps will be taken to bring back the identified Bangladeshi nationals who remain stranded abroad within the next one month," he told Parliament replying to a tabled starred question.
The foreign minister said the incidence of human trafficking through the Indian Ocean has risen alarmingly in recent times.
He said the Foreign Ministry, the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry and concerned missions abroad are working jointly to bring back Bangladeshi citizens stranded abroad.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan said in the House that incidence of human trafficking through Teknaf-St Martin coastal area came to the notice of the Coast Guard in 2011 for the first time.
The Coast Guard has so far detained 1736 nationals from the sea while they were attempting to migrate abroad illegally since 2011, he said, responding to another starred question from Awami League MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bhola-3).
In the wake of the rise of human trafficking, the Coast Guard increased its patrol on the sea, the state minister added.