Reuters reported that three more people were killed in Bangladesh today in fresh protests against quotas for government jobs, despite a government order barring all public meetings following a week of violence.

In a statement today, the foreign ministry said all the 95 Malaysian students in Bangladesh were safe as of 4pm.

It said it is monitoring the situation in Bangladesh and is in continuous communication with local authorities to safeguard the interests and safety of Malaysian students in the affected areas.

“Efforts are under way to assist the return of four students from Mymensingh Medical College to Malaysia, while a group of students have been relocated to temporary accommodation,” it said.

“The foreign ministry encourage all Malaysians residing in Bangladesh to avoid protest areas, remain vigilant, and adhere to safety advice and updates provided by local authorities.

“All quarters are advised to remain calm and exercise restraint while the Malaysian high commission in Dhaka expends every effort to ensure the safety of Malaysians in the area.”

While internet services in Bangladesh are experiencing widespread outages, the foreign ministry said telephone and SMS services remain operational in the country.

Immediate family members of Malaysian students in Dhaka may reach out to the foreign ministry’s duty room at +603 8887 4570.

Reuters reported that telecoms links in Bangladesh were widely disrupted and television news channels went off the air today.

Police fired tear gas to scatter protesters in some areas, Reuters journalists said, as security forces and protesters swarmed Dhaka, where there was little traffic on Friday, which is a weekly holiday in the nation.

Reuters reported that while the protests have been fuelled by high unemployment among young people, who make up nearly a fifth of a population of 170 million, some analysts said the violence is now also being driven by wider economic woes such as high inflation, growing unemployment and shrinking reserves of foreign exchange.