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COVID-19: Minister Shahid thanks Bangladesh government for aid supplies

Shahudha Mohamed
22 April 2020, MVT 16:01
Ceremony held for the handover of aid supplies from Bangladesh to Maldives. Foreign Minister stated that Bangladeshi's will not be discriminated in the COVID-19 crisis. PHOTO: FOREIGN MINSTRY
Shahudha Mohamed
22 April 2020, MVT 16:01

Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, on Wednesday, extended his thanks on behalf of Maldives, to the Bangladeshi government for providing medicine, medical equipment and necessary food products to aid the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the Male' Port to handover the items, Minister Shahid stated that "the Maldivian government will not discriminate between locals and Bangladesh nationals in the measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19".

The foreign minister assured that the state would not discriminate in providing treatment for any patients diagnosed with COVID-19, whether they are Maldivians or foreigners.

This statement was made at a time when there has been an increase in xenophobic behavior among certain factions of the local community particularly against labour workers the majority of which are from Bangladesh.

National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) released statements against such actions and assurances that service providers should not add to stigma. A number of public personalities also rose to the occasion, speaking in defense of the Bangladeshi community in Maldives, especially those working on the front-lines of the pandemic.

The public also joined the narrative, with many comparing the way Bangladesh nationals treat Maldivians and vice versa, referring to the Bangladesh government's assistance.

In Wednesday's ceremony, Minister of Defense Mariya Ahmed Didi and Chief of Defense Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal echoed similar sentiments of gratitude towards the Bangladesh government, army and navy.

Minister Shahid specifically mentioned Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen by name, when expressing his thanks.

Similarly, High Commissioner Designate from Bangladesh to Maldives Mohammad Nazmul Hasan thanked the Maldivian government for assuring that the state will closely monitor the status of Bangladeshi nationals in Maldives.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangladesh Air Force also successfully evacuated a total of 71 Maldivians from Nepal and Bangladesh on Monday.

A team of 10 medical professionals from Bangladesh arrived with the evacuees to assist Maldives' efforts in combatting the COVID-19 outbreak as well.

On Tuesday, 68 undocumented Bangladeshi nationals were flown out in the same Air Force plane, as part of the state's efforts to repatriate undocumented foreign labourers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development.

In a previous call with the Bangladeshi foreign minister, Shahid noted the Maldivian government's efforts to regularise undocumented expatriates in Maldives prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in the country. He further highlighted that undocumented workers was among the most at-risk should an outbreak surface in the archipelago, and urged Bangladesh's support for repatriation.

Maldives recorded its first COVID-19 cases involving expatriates on Sunday. Thirteen Bangladeshi workers employed at Lily Store, linked to an existing cluster involving a confirmed patient in the capital, MAV027, tested positive for the virus.

Presently, of the 30 expatriates that tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives, 24 are Bangladeshi nationals.

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