PUTRAJAYA: The Foreign Ministry will evacuate all Malaysians in Bangladesh, especially students, tomorrow, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Mohamad said arrangements had been made with several government agencies for the evacuation, including the National Security Council (NSC) and the management of AirAsia Bhd, to bring them home.
He said an AirAsia A330 aircraft was scheduled to arrive at Dhaka International Airport at 10am local time in Bangladesh.
"The plane will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by 10am tomorrow, and I have specifically told AirAsia management to make sure the plane is on time.
"The embassy in Dhaka has also been instructed to bring all Malaysians to the High Commission building tonight.
"We are also making arrangements with the Bangladesh government to ensure Malaysians are given security clearance to safely go to the High Commission building tonight and for them to go to the airport tomorrow.
"I hope this will put all assumptions to rest, especially those who thought the government and ministry were not doing anything," he said at a press conference here today.
Mohamad said the aircraft, which can accommodate 350 passengers, will depart for Malaysia on the same day.
He said 192 Malaysians, including 124 students, 58 non-students, and 10 embassy staff, were expected to be brought home.
He encouraged any Malaysians who planned to return to contact the embassy to arrange their inclusion in tomorrow's evacuation.
"I have asked AirAsia to provide an aircraft with more capacity than we need. This is to ensure that Malaysians who are not registered with the embassy, including private students, can also return," he said.
He also said Wisma Putra had been notified of the issue in Bangladesh since day one. However, they did not expect the situation to worsen.
"The embassy and the ministry have been analysing the situation there since day one, and it was understood that the riots were initially only driven by students.
"However, the situation has worsened with the involvement of anti-government movements.
"We did not expect the issue to deteriorate like this, and immediate action was taken to bring everyone back to Malaysia."
Wisma Putra said yesterday that Malaysian students affected by current developments in Bangladesh had been relocated to the Malaysian High Commission's office in Dhaka.
The ministry said that the safety of Malaysians abroad remains its priority and was closely monitoring the latest developments in Bangladesh.
As of late Friday, two out of 95 Malaysian students in Bangladesh had left Dhaka with the assistance of the High Commission.
The Bangladeshi government imposed a nationwide curfew on Saturday in response to escalating violence and protests.
The country erupted in chaos after its Supreme Court scrapped most government job quotas.
The nationwide protest saw clashes between police and university students that led to deaths of 133 people.