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Malaysia evacuates 123 citizens from Bangladesh amid violent protests
- More than 50 Malaysians opted to stay in the country due to work or study, officials said
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Malaysia has evacuated 123 of its citizens from Bangladesh in response to violent unrest that has killed dozens of people.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution greeted the evacuees, including 80 students, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Tuesday after they landed on a chartered AirAsia plane. More than 50 Malaysians opted to stay in the country due to work or study, officials said.
A controversial system for allocating government jobs has triggered violent protests in Bangladesh, with clashes between police and mainly student protesters killing more than 100 people, according to local media.
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There was apparent calm after Bangladesh top court scaled back the quota in a ruling issued on Sunday.
The protests have posed the most serious challenge to Bangladesh’s government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth consecutive term in January elections that the main opposition groups boycotted. Universities have been closed, the internet has been shut off, and the government imposed a national curfew and deployed military forces to maintain order.
Saifuddin said the internet and communication outage in Bangladesh had hindered Malaysia’s ability to reach its citizens. He said the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka helped to facilitate the safe return of 19 students before Tuesday’s evacuation flight.
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