Illegal migration of Bangladeshis from Libya

Traffickers on the prowl

Fingers pointed AT immigration officials, embassy in Dhaka

Human traffickers have been using a new route to send Bangladeshis to Italy through United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Libya, government sources told The Independent yesterday.
Many of the Bangladeshis rescued and died in the boat capsizes off the coast of Libya on Thursday are believed to have been taken to Libya from Bangladesh using the new route starting from the port city of Chittagong, they said.
The sources held the Immigration officials as well as Libyan Embassy in Dhaka for facilitating the trafficking of Bangladeshis.
“Interviewing those who survived the capsizing of the boats, officials of Bangladesh’s Embassy in Libya found out that many of them as well as the 24 deceased were trafficked from Bangladesh to Libya using Chittagong-Sharjah (UAE)-Egypt route. The route is new. Their ultimate destination is Italy,” a government official told The Independent quoting a report sent by the Bangladesh’s Embassy in Libya.
Bangladeshis have been able to fly out of the country with forged documents under the nose of the immigration people, he said.
Although the Bangladesh Embassy has been relocated in neighbouring Tunisia due to security threats, officials conduct different activities of the mission travelling from Tunisia on regular basis, said the sources.
 “It was found that a person’s passport was issued in January 2015, but the passport contains visa issued by the Libyan Embassy in Dhaka in 2014,” said the official, adding that this person should not have been allowed to obtain the visa and fly out of the country,
Citing a different instance, another official said, “A 22-year-old Bangladeshi youth was is Libya with a machine-readable passport. The picture and signature appeared in the passport were not his. You can easily imagine who is responsible for his presence in Libya.”
When contacted, Bangladesh’s Ambassador in Libya, Major general Shahidul Haque, now in Bangladesh, claimed that the government was able to stop the use of Chittagong-Sharjah-Egypt-Libya route in March after detecting 500 prospective victims of trafficking.
Six Bangladeshis are reported dead while 18 others remained missing, said the official, adding that the missing are also feared dead. The 24 deceased include three children aged 8 moths, 2 years and 7 years.
According to the sources, during the interviews, most of the 54 survivors have expressed reluctance to return home much to the surprise of the officials of the Embassy.
Among the 78 Bangladeshis in the two capsized boats, they said that some were working in Libya while the others might have gone from Bangladesh.  
“Some of them even expressed their determination to take another attempt to go to Italy. It’s simply mad,” said an official.
Ambassador to Libya General Haque said, “Out of 54 survivors, 15 wanted to come back home and we are trying to arrange their repatriation with the help of International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Certain legal procedures need to be completed before they are allowed back home.”
Among the 54 survivors, he said that 29 males are now in detention centres under the custody of Libyan law enforcers and the remaining 25 women and children are under the custody of the Bangladesh mission on certain conditions.
“We are also trying to get the Bangladeshi males under our custody,” he added.
“Some of the deceased and survivors had very good jobs in Libya. I don’t know why they needed to undertake the treacherous journey. It’s really tragic,” the envoy lamented, placing emphasis on greater awareness among the migrants both at home and abroad.

The sources also informed that not a single body of the Bangladeshi has been identified by the officials of Bangladesh’s Embassy, as the Libyan authorities have not allowed access to the bodies.
“It is assumed that the Libyans will not allow us any access to the bodies of Bangladeshis. This is what they always do,” said an official.

Illegal migration of Bangladeshis from Libya

Traffickers on the prowl

Fingers pointed AT immigration officials, embassy in Dhaka

Human traffickers have been using a new route to send Bangladeshis to Italy through United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Libya, government sources told The Independent yesterday. Many of the Bangladeshis rescued and died in the boat capsizes off the coast of Libya on Thursday are believed to have been taken to Libya from Bangladesh using the new route starting from the port city of Chittagong, they said. The sources held the Immigration officials as well as Libyan Embassy in Dhaka for facilitating the trafficking of Bangladeshis. Interviewing those who survived the capsizing of the boats, officials of Bangladeshs Embassy in Libya found out that many of them as well as the 24 deceased were trafficked from Bangladesh to Libya using Chittagong-Sharjah (UAE)-Egypt route. The route is new. Their ultimate destination is Italy, a government official told The Independent quoting a report sent by the Bangladeshs Embassy in Libya. Bangladeshis have been able to fly out of the country with forged documents under the nose of the immigration people, he said. Although the Bangladesh Embassy has been relocated in neighbouring Tunisia due to security threats, officials conduct different activities of the mission travelling from Tunisia on regular basis, said the sources. It was found that a persons passport was issued in January 2015, but the passport contains visa issued by the Libyan Embassy in Dhaka in 2014, said the official, adding that this person should not have been allowed to obtain the visa and fly out of the country, Citing a different instance, another official said, A 22-year-old Bangladeshi youth was is Libya with a machine-readable passport. The picture and signature appeared in the passport were not his. You can easily imagine who is responsible for his presence in Libya. When contacted, Bangladeshs Ambassador in Libya, Major general Shahidul Haque, now in Bangladesh, claimed that the government was able to stop the use of Chittagong-Sharjah-Egypt-Libya route in March after detecting 500 prospective victims of trafficking. Six Bangladeshis are reported dead while 18 others remained missing, said the official, adding that the missing are also feared dead. The 24 deceased include three children aged 8 moths, 2 years and 7 years. According to the sources, during the interviews, most of the 54 survivors have expressed reluctance to return home much to the surprise of the officials of the Embassy. Among the 78 Bangladeshis in the two capsized boats, they said that some were working in Libya while the others might have gone from Bangladesh. Some of them even expressed their determination to take another attempt to go to Italy. Its simply mad, said an official. Ambassador to Libya General Haque said, Out of 54 survivors, 15 wanted to come back home and we are trying to arrange their repatriation with the help of International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Certain legal procedures need to be completed before they are allowed back home. Among the 54 survivors, he said that 29 males are now in detention centres under the custody of Libyan law enforcers and the remaining 25 women and children are under the custody of the Bangladesh mission on certain conditions. We are also trying to get the Bangladeshi males under our custody, he added. Some of the deceased and survivors had very good jobs in Libya. I dont know why they needed to undertake the treacherous journey. Its really tragic, the envoy lamented, placing emphasis on greater awareness among the migrants both at home and abroad. The sources also informed that not a single body of the Bangladeshi has been identified by the officials of Bangladeshs Embassy, as the Libyan authorities have not allowed access to the bodies. It is assumed that the Libyans will not allow us any access to the bodies of Bangladeshis. This is what they always do, said an official.