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Last year, protestors took to the streets in Lebanon against the then ruling party for years of mismanagement in the country’s economy. With many businesses closing since then, thousands of Bangladeshis and other nationals lost jobs.

The situation worsened with the Covid-19 lockdown being enforced since March this year.

Tuesday’s explosion added insult to the injury of Lebanon, home to some 150,000 Bangladeshis. The damage caused by the explosion is estimated to be up to $15 billion, Lebanon government officials told the media.

“I don’t know what I will do now. It’s a panicky situation in Lebanon,” Mahin, who hails from Brahmanbaria’s Kasba upazila, told this correspondent over phone yesterday.

Before the pandemic, officials of the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut estimated that some 30,000 Bangladeshis were undocumented. The situation has worsened by now, they said.

Ripon Khan, another Bangladeshi expatriate in Beirut, said he used to work as a security guard at a school, but he has been jobless for six months now.

“Since then I have been bringing money from home. How long can I survive like this?” he said.

There are many Bangladeshis who neither have jobs nor can bring money from home. Even those who are working can a save little amount because of the high price of US dollars and daily essentials.

Ripon said Lira has become so cheap against dollar that his monthly salary would have been equivalent to about $100 now, down from $400 a year ago.

Many Bangladeshis don’t get full salaries now, he added.

“The Beirut explosion has caused more troubles. For many months, I was expecting that the situation would improve. But now I want to return home,” said Ripon, who hails from Brahmanbaria.

Abdullah Al Mamun, head of chancery at the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut, admitted that there is joblessness among many migrants and the high price of US dollar has worsened the situation.

“The Bangladesh government had sought funding from the International Organisation for Migration a few months back for repatriation of undocumented Bangladeshis from Lebanon. But the move has seen no progress,” he said.

Many of the undocumented Bangladeshi migrants are now managing money to buy tickets to return home. Nearly 8,000 have registered with the Bangladesh embassy so far for returning home, said Mamun.

Some 200 have already returned home, he said, adding that some 15,000 more may return home in the coming months.

Shakirul Islam, chairman of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme, said they know a lot of Bangladeshis in Lebanon, including women domestic workers, passing days in hardship without jobs.

“The government should actively work to repatriate them from abroad,” he said.