By OWASIN UDDIN BHUYAN
At least 26 Bangladeshi migrant-trafficking victims who were killed by the kidnappers at the desert town of Mizdah of Libya on Thursday have been buried there, according to Bangladesh Embassy in Libya.
Different international media reported the incident claiming that the family of a Libyan trafficker killed 30 migrants including 26 Bangladeshis, in revenge for his death.
A Bangladeshi migrant who fled the killing scene and informed the Bangladesh mission about the incident had been brought to Tripoli for undergoing treatment.
The 11 Bangladeshis who were injured in the attack were admitted to a hospital in Tripoli where they were undergoing treatment.
The Bangladesh mission in Tripoli confirmed that 38 Bangladeshis and some Africans were held hostage by the Libyan criminals, who could be human traffickers.
They were being brought to Tripoli on Thursday. On the way, the traffickers demanded a high amount of money, although the victims had earlier paid up to $10,000 each. There was hot negotiation between the traffickers and the victims.
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At one stage, the main trafficker was killed by an African. In return, other members of the trafficking gang fired shots abruptly at the Bangladeshis and Africans.
Bangladesh demands compensation, justice, the punishment of killers
Bangladesh has communicated with the International Organisation for Migration in Libya to help it about deceased migrants and it also sought compensation for their families, reports UNB.
Bangladesh has also sought information on the human traffickers and demanded punishment of those involved in human trafficking and killing after their arrest.
“We contacted with the IOM to make an arrangement for the 26 bodies in the hospital morgue and demanded compensation for them. We also sought information about traffickers,” said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen sharing the updates on Friday afternoon.
Dr Momen said the Libyan Interior Ministry ordered arrest and punishment of the killers but there is no effective administration of the Tripoli government in the area where the Bangladesh citizens were killed.
Bangladeshi workers continue to get traffic
The rackets of human traffickers still remain active in Bangladesh in the guise of manpower brokers or the travel agents as they continue to allure the migrant workers with better jobs abroad and they finally put the migrants in vulnerabilities in the foreign lands.
Counter trafficking activists said that Bangladeshi migrants were frequently becoming victims of human trafficking as the big shot traffickers in Bangladesh have not been brought to book in the country.
They demanded exemplary punishment of the Bangladeshi human traffickers after revealing their identities as they maintained strong connection with the international rackets.
Home Affairs ministry’s additional secretary Abu Bakar Siddique who is chief of counter-trafficking cell said that though the government has been trying to stop trafficking issues inside Bangladesh it had no capacity to control it in the foreign territories.
‘We are imparting training, keeping surveillance and showing the right attitude to stop trafficking but in foreign lands, we have nothing to do,’ he said.
Referring to the recent Libya incident, he said that many of the workers have gone to Dubai with legal channels. After landing in the UAE they worked a few months and then they might have been allured by the traffickers with good jobs in Europe or other countries.
‘If Bangladeshi traffickers are found involved, the government takes legal actions against them,’ he said.
According to the UNHCR, about 2.5 million people crossed the Mediterranean from 2014 to April 2020. While crossing sea in such a risky way, more than 19,000 people have lost their lives, including many Bangladeshis. From January to April this year, only 693 Bangladeshis were detained while trying to enter Europe.
Civil Society for Global Commitments on Migration, a network of Bangladeshi non-government organizations that works on migrants demanded justice to the murder of 26 Bangladeshis in Libya.
They said that traffickers were taking an average of three to four lakh Bangladeshi taka from each aspirant migrants in the name of sending them to Europe but they were keeping migrants, hostages, in the camps across the Libyan border near the Mediterranean and sending them to Europe in small boats.
‘If needed, different countries should work collaboratively to arrest and bring the traffickers to justice, in addition to finding all those who are involved.’
Bangladesh has been ranked in Tier 2 Watch List for the last three years, with the TIP report of 2019 saying the country does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
The government enacted the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act in 2012 but its implementations were very slow, said, activists.
According to an analysis by BRAC Migration Programme, 4,529 cases were filed under the law between 2012 and February 2019, but only 103 were settled — demonstrating the extremely low rate of conviction.
Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants demanded strong follow up by the Bangladesh embassy on the process of prosecution of the perpetrators of 26 Bangladeshis’ Killers in Libya.
The BCSM urged the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment to collect information from those who attempted to cross to Europe in the past, were subsequently apprehended and returned to Bangladesh and identify the deals, travel agencies, and unscrupulous recruiting agencies who facilitated their travel pass and take stern action under the Overseas Employment and Migrants’ Act, 2013.
