The Foreign Ministry has urged Maldivians living and traveling to Bangladesh to be more cautious amid civil unrest in South Asia.
In a statement, the Ministry said that the High Commission of Maldives in Bangladesh is closely monitoring the situation of Maldivians currently residing in Bangladesh and who have traveled to the country.
It said that the High Commission is in constant contact with 83 Maldivian students in Chittagong (Southeast coast), 7 students in Dhaka, and a lone student in Cumilla.
The Ministry said that 119 Maldivians are currently in Bangladesh, including these students, and the High Commission noted that all the Maldivians are generally doing fine.
As the Bangladeshi government declared a curfew at certain times, the Ministry urged people not to go outside as directed by the Government of Bangladesh and to follow the instructions of the Government of Bangladesh and the High Commission of Maldives in Bangladesh.
It also urged Maldivians to contact the High Commission in Bangladesh if they need assistance due to the unrest in the country.
In Bangladesh, a demonstration began in early July over the reintroduction of the quota scheme, which reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups. It has since been scaled back by Bangladesh’s top court.
Rallies against the quotas led to days of mayhem that saw more than 200 people killed in some of the worst periods of unrest during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure.
