Thirty-one more Bangladeshis were sent back from the United States on Monday, arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport under what returnees described as deeply humiliating conditions. 

The group reached Dhaka at around 7pm on a special US military flight, their hands cuffed and bodies restrained with chains — a practice that has sparked renewed debate over the treatment of deportees.

According to airport officials, the returnees were freed from the shackles only after landing in Dhaka. Many of them said they had spent nearly 60 hours in handcuffs and leg irons during the long journey home.

The United States has already repatriated 226 Bangladeshis earlier this year as part of an intensified deportation drive under President Donald Trump’s second term in office. 

Since returning to the White House, Trump has toughened his administration’s policy on undocumented migrants, leading to the removal of people from several countries, Bangladesh included.

The latest group includes workers from Noakhali, Sylhet, Feni, Shariatpur, Cumilla and other districts. BRAC provided transport and emergency assistance upon their arrival through the airport authorities.

For many, the return marks not just the end of a difficult journey, but the collapse of years of hope and investment in forging a new life abroad. Several deportees said the physical restraints, combined with the uncertainty of what awaited them at home, had left them distraught and exhausted.