Bangladeshi arrested in Libya over trafficking

Libyan police on Thursday arrested a Bangladeshi national for his alleged involvement in trafficking 37 fellow countrymen promising them lucrative jobs in the North African country.

The trafficker has been identified as Sujan, 28, a resident of Noakhali, confirmed the Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli.

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The Libyan police arrested at least 10 Bangladeshi human traffickers, including Sujan, in the last three weeks.

On November 8, the 37 Bangladeshi fortune seekers, who tried to reach Italy through the Mediterranean Sea, were detained in Libya's Gharyan town for illegally entry.

Last month, the Libyan police also rescued at least 65 Bangladeshis from the traffickers' den at Tajoura suburb of the war-torn nation's capital.

The Bangladesh government in June last year officially banned sending its nationals to Libya on security grounds. Libya has also suspended recruitment of workers against the backdrop of its troubling situation.

But the traffickers, who are now working for some recruiting and travel agents based in Bangladesh, remain very active and cheat jobseekers for the last two years, ASM Ashraful Islam, labour counsellor, told The Daily Star.

“The traffickers use Egypt and Tunisia as transit points to send jobseekers to Libya. There are some active groups both in Bangladesh and Libya,” he added.

These trafficking gangs confine the jobseekers at their dens in Libya and realise ransoms from their families, Ashraful said.

However, the embassy has sought the Libyan police's assistance in tracking down the traffickers, he informed.

Currently, more than 30,000 Bangladeshis are working in a risky situation in Libya that repatriated 32,000 Bangladeshis in 2011 soon after the overthrow of long-time military ruler Muammar Gaddafi.