"The Bangladesh government has formally requested us to evacuate around 10,000 Bangladeshis now living in Lebanon," Dhaka chief of the organisation Shahidul Haque told AFP.

The inter-governmental organisation deals with migrants, cross-border trafficking and migration-related issues and has offices worldwide.

"We have a team in Beirut and they will help evacuate Bangladeshis from Beirut to Damascus by road, and from Damasacus, they will be brought back to the country by air," he said.

There are an estimated 10,179 Bangladeshis in Lebanon, which has been under attack from Israel for the past week. Most of them are migrant workers engaged in construction and textile sectors.

Countries worldwide are working to evacuate nationals from Lebanon. Almost 300 people have been killed since Israel unleashed a massive military offensive it says is aimed at destroying the Hezbollah guerrilla group after the capture of two soldiers eight days ago.