Some 11 Bangladeshis out of 16, cheated by dishonest private recruiting agencies returned home from Iraq on Monday.
The victims are Meer Kashem, Abul Kalam Azad, Yousuf, Humayan Kabir, Saidul Islam, Ilias Hossain, Shafiqul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Shamol Das, Rabiul Awal and Abdur Rahim.
Following an initiative by Shikha Shastha Unnayan Karjakram (SHISUK), the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry brought the victims back home on the day.
Two migrants Rubel Miah and Abdul Malek could not come home at the same flight because of some visa complications while three others fled the place earlier.
Some 27 Bangladeshis cheated by the recruiters had been kept captive at Najaf city in Iraq since March, 2013. They fell prey to the dishonest private recruiting agencies, officials said.
The first batch of 11 victims came back home earlier in November last. But the remaining 16 could not return as proper support was not provided to them by the authorities concerned despite assurances of bringing them back home within four days.
The Morning Sun Enterprise, East Bengal Overseas, Idea International, Meghna Trade International and the Bangladesh Migration International sent the workers through the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) immigration clearance. Each job seeker gave Tk 350,000 to Tk 400,000 as migration cost.
Shafiqul Islam, one of the returnees told the FE that they were in a vulnerable condition. They had been kept in a single room where they did not get even food properly. The agents of manpower recruiters used to torture them if they wanted to come back to Bangladesh.
Secretary to the ministry Khandaker Shawkat Hossain said they have taken steps to file cases under civil and criminal laws to bring the dishonest recruiters to book.
"We also have taken steps to cancel the licence of those recruiting agencies," the secretary said.
