Fortune seekers end up in Egyptian jail

A significant number of Bangladeshis are detained by Egyptian police every year while entering Libya illegally through Egyptian border with the help of a section of unscrupulous recruiting agents, victims and sources in Bangladesh missions said.
Citing official figures, an official at the Bangladesh embassy in Egypt told the FE over phone that more than 200 Bangladeshis had returned home from Egypt between April 2013 and May 2014 after being released from jail and the number was increasing day by day.
Although the political situation is yet to be stable in the North African country, a section of dishonest manpower agencies is alluring the jobseekers promising lucrative jobs there and collecting a large amount of money from them in the name of migration costs, he said.
The manpower agents are sending the fortune seekers to Egypt on tourist visas and after that they help them to enter Libya through Egyptian border.
The manpower agents charge Tk 0.25 million to Tk 0.30 million from each person for jobs in Libya, according to the victims.
Rafiqul Islam, second secretary (labour) to Bangladesh embassy in Egypt said illegal entry of Bangladeshis to Libya through Egyptian border continued to increase from 2011 after the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
He said presently some 11 Bangladeshis are under the process of repatriation to Bangladesh from the Kanatel Khairia Jail in Egypt.
Besides, the Bangladesh embassy in Egypt in November 2013 sent a list of 44 Bangladeshis who were detained in the same jail for attempting to cross the border illegally.
The dishonest manpower agents use different airlines to send Bangladeshis to Egypt.
A source from Bangladesh high commission in Malaysia said last month more than 100 Bangladeshis bearing tourist visas to Libya were waiting on immigration in Kuala Lumpur airport. Some of them stayed there for more than fifteen days as they were not getting next direction from their recruiting agents.
Most of them went to Libya and some returned home as they were concerned over their security, he said. The source also said all of them travelled through Chittagong airport.
Mohammad Ahsan Kibria Siddiqui, Labour Attaché of Bangladesh embassy in Libya told the FE over phone that a significant number of Bangladeshis entered Libya illegally every month.
He said a large portion of the 60,000 Bangladeshis currently working in Libya had entered the country illegally with the help of a section of manpower agents. They send the Bangladeshis through various borders like Egypt, Sudan, Niger, Chad etc.
A section of Bangladeshis working in Egypt enter Libya for better salary.
And a section of unscrupulous recruiting agents send manpower from Bangladesh to Libya through borders of some neighbouring countries.
Libya is facing an acute manpower shortage in various sectors like shopping malls and hospitals as countries like Sudan and Egypt are not supplying manpower there because of political turmoil.
Mr Siddiqui said a section of dishonest manpower agents is taking the advantage and sending Bangladeshis on a regular basis to the labour-hungry country.
But the workers arriving there illegally are vulnerable in many ways, he added.
The embassy official said they have requested the authorities concerned to strengthen the monitoring system in the country's airports so that the frauds cannot trade on human miseries.
Mohammad Nurulla (16) went to Egypt on tourist visa two years back. A recruiting agency promised him a job in Libya with high salary. But the manpower agent engaged him in a garment factory.
While entering Libya he was arrested by Egyptian police. He is now in an Egyptian jail, said the victim's brother. Nurulla spent Tk 0.16 million as migration cost to go to Egypt.
Kamrul Hasan (25) who came back home last March said although a recruiting agent charged him Tk 0.25 million for an employment visa, he was sent on tourist visa to Egypt.  Mr Hasan was also engaged in a garment factory with a poor salary.
"So after some days I tried to go to Libya with the help of a middleman for a better job but I was caught by police at Egyptian border," he said.
Around 100 to 150 Bangladeshis are held every month with fake passports and visas during immigration check-up, immigration officials said.
Secretary to the ministry of expatriates welfare and overseas employment Khandaker Shawkat Hossain said they are concerned about such fraudulent practice, and they will take steps with the help of the ministry of home affairs in this connection.
Mr Hossain also said the Overseas Employment and Migration Act 2013 clearly mentioned the routes that will be used for the labour migration purpose.
There were around 60,000 Bangladeshi workers in Libya before the civil war in 2011. During the war, 38,000 returned home and around 16,000 fled to neighbouring Middle Eastern countries while the rest stayed back, a report of Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli said.