DHAKA: Bangladeshis living and working in Lebanon continue to return home, saying they fear Israeli attacks that have not stopped despite last week’s ceasefire agreement between the two countries.
There are about 100,000 Bangladeshis in Lebanon — the largest group of migrants from Asia. Thousands have been displaced since the beginning of Israel’s invasion of the country’s south in October and strikes on other cities.
Last month, a Bangladeshi man was killed by an Israeli strike while he stopped at a coffee shop on his way to work in Beirut.
Almost 1,000 Bangladeshis have since returned to their country on special repatriation flights financed by the Bangladeshi government and the International Organization for Migration. The latest flight reached Dhaka on Thursday night.
“The number of intended returnees is increasing,” Mohammad Anwar Hossain, first secretary of the Bangladeshi embassy in Beirut, told Arab News.
“Despite the ceasefire agreement, a tense situation still persists in Lebanon. We have observed Israeli surveillance drones over Beirut.”
Although a US-brokered ceasefire has been in place since last week, it has been repeatedly breached by Israel. A source from the UN’s peacekeeping force told CNN on Monday that Israeli forces had violated the agreement “approximately 100 times.”
Shahnaz Begum, who was among 105 Bangladeshis evacuated on Thursday, decided to leave her domestic helper job behind despite being her family’s sole breadwinner.
“Israel started bombing maybe one or two days after the announcement of the ceasefire,” she said.
“For over two months, we’ve been counting the days until we can return home. I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep. Every moment felt like it could be the last.”
Israeli air and ground raids, many of which have targeted civilian and medical infrastructure, have killed more than 4,000 people since October, according to Lebanese Health Ministry estimates. More than 16,000 have been injured.
Liton Rahman, who for the past seven years worked as a driver in Jezzine, southern Lebanon, was hopeful that the ceasefire would allow him to stay longer in Lebanon. But the wait was “in vain,” he said.
“I had been considering staying for a few more months if the ceasefire had truly been effective. But, unfortunately, Israel continues its attacks on various parts of southern Lebanon ... I am forced to return home. Otherwise, I might end up being counted as collateral damage.”
