3 Bangladeshi human trafficking survivors return from Libya

Three young Bangladeshi expatriates, who were rescued from an alleged human trafficking gang in Libya after reportedly a nine-month ordeal of torture, have returned home from the middle eastern country.

They are— Matiur Rahman from Jhenaidah, Tanjir Sheikh from Kushtia and Alamgir Hossain from Noakhali.

They arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a Buraq Air flight at 7:30am today (9 July), said a press release.    

Earlier, the trio went to Libya at an expense of Tk3-4 lakh each nearly two to two and a half years ago on the promise of jobs from brokers. However, upon reaching the country, they were reportedly sold to an alleged mafia group by a human trafficking gang.   

The three were kept captive in Tripoli along with 80 other Bangladeshis and subjected to brutal torture for months. Ransom was also collected from their families to free them.

At one stage, the three were abandoned by the mafia group in a desert, from where they were rescued by some Bangladeshi workers.

Later, based on their families' request, the three youths were transferred to a safe home in Libya through a coordinated effort by BRAC, the US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office in Washington, and the International Justice Mission (IJM).

In connection with the incident, two cases were filed in Dhaka under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act. Two alleged traffickers were arrested subsequently.

"We took the help of the foreign ministry, the Wage Earners Welfare Board, and the US Trafficking-in-Persons Hero Network for the repatriation of three Bangladeshi human trafficking survivors," said Al Amin Nayan, manager of BRAC Migration Welfare Centre in Dhaka.