5 Bangladeshi Seamen to Return Home Soon

Five Bangladeshi seamen, who are being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital Sana’a since February this year, will soon return home through India.

They are expected to arrive in Aden on Thursday amid two months' efforts by the Bangladesh Missions in Oman and Kuwait and Indian Mission in East African country Djibouti, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Wednesday.

From there, they are expected to come to Bangladesh through India with the support from International Organisation for Migration (IOM), he said.

The Bangladeshi seamen were working in a shipping company of Oman. Indian citizens were also there among the detainees.

Shahriar said the seamen at one stage were allowed to use mobile phones and one of the Bangladeshi detainees first communicated with him two months ago.

The State Minister shared the updates in a Facebook post from his verified page.

The ship set off to Saudi Arabia from Oman but anchored off Yemen coast, according to Indian media report.

Two Keralites - Vadakara native Praveen Thammakarantavida, 45, and Vizhinjam native Abdul Vahab Musthaba, 42 - are chief officers. One of the ships sank, but its crew was rescued.

Sana’a is under the control of Houthis as civil war is raging in Yemen. The detainees were put in four rooms in a five-storey hotel.