Lured to Libya in Europe's dream, Bangladeshis exploited, tortured

Finds BRAC study


FE REPORT | Published: February 23, 2024 23:36:39


About 144 Bangladeshis migrants who remained stranded in Libya reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city on a charter flight of Buraq Air in the early hours of Friday — Focus Bangla


Bangladeshis who are lured to Libya by the prospect of jobs in Europe are subjected to different forms of exploitation, while many of them are held prisoners in various camps and tortured physically in that country, said a BRAC study.
The report of the study was prepared by analysing 50 types of information on each of the 557 Bangladeshis who returned from Libya.
The study found that about 63 per cent were captured on way to Libya.
About 93 per cent of the prisoners were held in camps.
Nearly 79 per cent of prisoners become victims of physical torture.
In addition, 68 per cent lost freedom of movement after arriving in Libya.
The data came out on Friday.
According to the data of 557 Bangladeshis who returned from Libya, 60 per cent of their families were lured by local brokers with good jobs.
But 89 per cent did not get a job or any work. On the contrary, they are at risk.
Analysing the itinerary, it has been found that most people went to Libya from Dhaka via Dubai-Egypt.
Besides, many people went from Dhaka to Istanbul-Dubai to Libya, from Dhaka to Qatar to Libya, from Dhaka to Dubai-Syria to Libya and few people went directly to Libya from Dhaka.
The report said all those who are taken from Libya by the lure of sending them from Bangladesh to Europe are not getting the job despite the lure of good jobs.
On the contrary, most of them have been imprisoned in various camps in Libya and subjected to physical torture. They were held hostage and money is extorted from their families.
However, even after all these, this trend of crossing the Mediterranean Sea and going to Libya in Europe's dream is not stopping, it said.
Some 144 Bangladeshis returned from Libya on Thursday.
For the past one decade, Bangladesh has been on the top ten list of countries where people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
There is often the case of boat capsize on way from Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean Sea.
According to The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, from 2015 to June this year, 2.5 million people from various countries crossed the sea to Europe in this way.
About 22,000 people lost their lives by drowning in the sea. There were a good number of Bangladeshis among them.

arafataradhaka@gmail.com

Share if you like