50th repatriation flight leaves with 200 Bangladeshi workers

The 50th repatriation flight carrying undocumented Bangladeshi workers who have applied for voluntary repatriation has left for Dhaka.

The flight, operated by national airlines Maldivian, left for Dhaka on Thursday morning.

Maldivian states that it has carried 9,633 Bangladeshi workers back to Dhaka on its repatriation flights so far.

200 Bangladeshi workers departed to Dhaka on Thursday’s flight alone.

Our 50th #repatriation flight with 200 Bangladeshi nationals has left to Dhaka from @VelanaAirport.
As of today, #Maldivian has flown a total of 9633 Bangladeshi passengers on these repatriation flights.#NationalAirline pic.twitter.com/S0J4yU14xv

— Maldivian (@MaldivianAero) December 31, 2020

Maldives has a population of close to 150,000 migrant workers. Maldivian Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail has stated that while Maldives Immigration’s records place the number of undocumented migrant workers in the country at 62,000 – the actual figure is believed to be within the range of 80,000 to 100,000.

Most of the migrant workers in Maldives are Bangladeshis.

The repatriation program is held by the Maldivian government in collaboration with the Bangladeshi government.

Minister Fayyaz has announced plans to continue the repatriation program in the coming year.