When Ripon Bepari sent his entire salary -- about $200 -- home in early February, he had no idea that the next month would be any different.

However, the latest Israeli offensive on Lebanon has caught the construction worker off guard and put his somewhat stable life into disarray. Ripon has not received his March salary and is unsure whether he still has the job that supports him and his elderly parents in Faridpur.

“Since the war broke out, construction work has stopped,” he told The Daily Star by phone from Dahi, a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut that has been under intense Israeli attack.

“Now I’m stuck here without work or money. I’m buying food on credit,” Ripon said, adding that five other Bangladeshis in his neighbourhood are facing the same situation…

According to Unicef, the attacks have forced nearly 800,000 people -- including around 200,000 children -- from their homes, in addition to tens of thousands already displaced in previous escalations…

Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, senior secretary of the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry, said the government is working to identify Bangladeshi workers stranded in conflict-hit areas abroad…