5 Bangladeshis return after Mediterranean ordeal

Five Bangladeshis, who were dreaming of a better future in Europe and left their homes, have returned today.

Instead of reaching their destination, they ended up in Libya, where they were trapped by a notorious trafficking mafia and subjected to brutal torture, BRAC said in a release today.

Around 5:30am, they arrived in Dhaka airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Algeria.

The returnees are Mostakim Sarkar from Dhaka, Mozammel Haque from Sherpur, and Jihad Fakir, Roman Howlader, and Yasin Howlader from Madaripur.

According to the victims, the human traffickers held them captive in Libya's capital, Tripoli, torturing them while demanding ransom from their families in Bangladesh.

Once their families managed to pay, the traffickers put them on a boat to cross the Mediterranean to Italy. However, their boat broke down at sea, and they were rescued by the Tunisian Coast Guard.

Later, they were taken to the Algerian border, where they were imprisoned for varying periods for illegal entry.

With assistance from BRAC, the Wage Earners' Welfare Board under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, and the Bangladesh Embassy in Algeria, they were eventually repatriated.

Recalling his ordeal, Yasin Howlader from Madaripur said, "I was held captive by the Libyan mafia. My family had to take out loans, mortgage land, and borrow from relatives to pay a ransom of Tk 25.8 lakh to the traffickers. Now, we have nothing left."

Aziz Ahmed, Senior Manager of BRAC's Migration Programme, stated, "For the repatriation of these five trafficking survivors, we coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Wage Earners' Welfare Board, and the US-based Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Hero Network. Earlier, in October 2024, BRAC and TIP Hero Network helped bring back eight other Bangladeshi trafficking victims."

For the past eight years, BRAC's Migration Welfare Center has been assisting returnee migrants at the airport. With support from Civil Aviation authorities, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport authorities, the Expatriate Welfare Desk, APBN, and others, the centre has provided various forms of assistance to over 35,000 people. In 2024 alone, 40 Bangladeshis were rescued from different countries.

Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC's Migration Programme, emphasised the need for awareness among the public and aspiring migrants. He urged law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle local trafficking networks, especially by tracking financial transactions. "Without a collective effort, this problem cannot be solved," he said.