Malaysian students recount horror in Bangladesh before evacuation

 

It was a happy reunion with their families for the Malaysians, including students, who arrived at KLIA on a chartered flight from Bangladesh earlier today. (Bernama pic)

SEPANG: 

It was a harrowing weekend for Syazanna Amira Said, a medical student at Mymensingh College, after Bangladesh imposed a curfew and deployed military forces following days of clashes during protests against government job quotas across the country.

The 28-year-old Malaysian said her landlord asked her to leave the country as the protests were unlike previous ones.

“I saw burnt buses along the way to the Malaysian high commission building in Dhaka and the airport.

There was so much horror. Soldiers were holding guns outside my rented home and I feared they would shoot anyone they saw,

 she said after arriving at Terminal 2 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

It was reported this morning that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered a special flight to evacuate Malaysians in Bangladesh.

Reuters reported that Bangladesh’s Supreme Court yesterday scrapped most quotas for government jobs, but some organisers said the protests would continue.

The Bangladeshi government had declared the past two days as 

public holidays

 due to the situation, with only emergency services allowed to operate.

Syazanna said the situation was especially frightening when the internet suddenly went down across the country.

“When we found out that there was no mobile data, we immediately contacted the embassy to ask what we should do because we were afraid of losing contact.

“It was really difficult because my friend and I were handling communications between the students and the embassy.

We would ask questions every day, and didn’t sleep at night because the embassy could call at any time, so we had to take turns sleeping,

 she said.

Syazanna said she felt overwhelming relief when her flight arrived in Malaysia.

This is truly the safest place to be in,

 she said.

Meanwhile, medical students and brothers Haziq Shukor and Hazim Shukor said it was hard to contact their mother due to internet and Wi-Fi disruptions in their area.

“The voice quality was really bad and unclear. If we couldn’t call, we would try to use SMS to communicate.

But we are glad to be back,

 Haziq said.

Their mother Nor Hamimi Harun said she had checked in with her sons every six hours for the past few days to ensure their safety.

I’m happy I can hug my sons again,

 she said, thanking everyone involved in bringing her sons back to Malaysia safely.

Syazanna, Haziq and Hazim were among the 123 Malaysians who arrived from Bangladesh on a chartered flight following deadly protests in the country, which have killed almost 150 people.

Earlier, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Wisma Putra and the Malaysian high commission had excellent cooperation from the Bangladeshi government and local authorities throughout the process.

The government would like to extend its appreciation to the Bangladeshi foreign affairs ministry and all related agencies for their cooperation and assistance,

 he said. - FMT