The government is set to repatriate documented Bangladeshi nationals from Lebanon, with the first group of 50 expatriates scheduled to return home on October 20, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said on Thursday. 

"We are taking immediate steps to bring back expatriates in two batches, around 50 people each, on October 20 and 22," Hossain told reporters at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He explained that limited seat availability on flights from Beirut has constrained the number of returnees. 

"Given the flight capacity, we are exploring options to transport a larger group by sea to Turkey, from where they will fly to Bangladesh," he added.

Bangladeshis caught in Lebanon's crisis seek to go home

A total of 36,145 Bangladeshi nationals were accounted for across all 26 districts of Lebanon. Almost half of the identified Bangladeshi nationals (49%) were females, including girls below the age of 18.

The number of Bangladeshi workers going to Lebanon has almost doubled this year compared to 2023. Last year, 2,594 workers travelled to Lebanon on work visas, while in the first seven months of this year, 4,225 people have made the journey, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

Bangladeshis rank as the top two nationalities hosted in Lebanon (22%) and 58 per cent of the Bangladeshi nationals were identified in Mount Lebanon governorate followed by Beirut (21%) and South (11%) governorates.