DHAKA: Bangladeshis living and working in Lebanon continue to return home, saying they fear Israeli attacks that have not stopped despite last week\u2019s ceasefire agreement between the two countries.<\/p>\n
There are about 100,000 Bangladeshis in Lebanon \u2014 the largest group of migrants from Asia. Thousands have been displaced since the beginning of Israel\u2019s invasion of the country\u2019s south in October and strikes on other cities.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of intended returnees is increasing,\u201d Mohammad Anwar Hossain, first secretary of the Bangladeshi embassy in Beirut, told Arab News.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the ceasefire agreement, a tense situation still persists in Lebanon. We have observed Israeli surveillance drones over Beirut.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although a US-brokered ceasefire has been in place since last week, it has been repeatedly breached by Israel. A source from the UN\u2019s peacekeeping force told CNN on Monday that Israeli forces had violated the agreement \u201capproximately 100 times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shahnaz Begum, who was among 105 Bangladeshis evacuated on Thursday, decided to leave her domestic helper job behind despite being her family\u2019s sole breadwinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael started bombing maybe one or two days after the announcement of the ceasefire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over two months, we\u2019ve been counting the days until we can return home. I can\u2019t remember the last time I had a good night\u2019s sleep. Every moment felt like it could be the last.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cin vain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA: Bangladeshis living and working in Lebanon continue to return home, saying they fear Israeli attacks that have not stopped despite last week\u2019s ceasefire agreement between the two countries. There are about 100,000 Bangladeshis in Lebanon \u2014 the largest group of migrants from Asia. Thousands have been displaced since the beginning of Israel\u2019s invasion of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n