Lost at sea, stranded in the desert: The plight of Bangladeshi migrants

Yasin Hawlader barely clung to life, the skin on his legs burned by the boat's hot fuel. By the time water began pouring in through a hole, causing panic among over a 100 migrants trying to reach Italy through the Mediterranean, Yasin was already unconscious.

Roman Hawlader, another migrant, was also on that boat, along with several other Bangladeshis, according to survivors who returned. He said that as the boat began sinking, they reached out to the Libyan Coast Guard for rescue, but their plea was ignored. They then contacted the Tunisian Coast Guard, who also refused to help.

In the moment of imminent demise in the sea, they came across a Tunisian gas exploration ship. The crew rescued them, brought them to shore and handed them over to the police.

The Tunisian police then divided the migrants into groups and loaded them onto several buses. One group, including Yasin and Roman, was abandoned in the desert near the Algerian border. There were around 25 Bangladeshis in the group.

As the Bangladeshi migrants walked miles toward the Algerian border, they carried Yasin with them. At some point, the Algerian police found them, but according to Roman, they only took Yasin to a hospital while detaining him and another migrant, Jahid Fakir, in jail. 

"But they took the rest to the Niger border area and left them there," Roman said. "This is the standard practice. Each country pushes migrants to the border, and the cycle continues." 

While some from this group returned to Bangladesh before Roman, Jakir and Yasin, others remain missing, with their families still searching for them five months later. 

The trio spent over five months in prison before being rescued by the Bangladesh government in cooperation with Brac Migration. Five Bangladeshis have been brought back from Algeria in this phase. 

Libya is a key transit point for many Bangladeshi migrant workers, who attempt to reach Italy across the Mediterranean Sea — often risking their lives in the process.

For example, last month, more than 20 bodies of migrant workers were discovered along the Libyan coast, most of them identified as Bangladeshis. Madaripur, one of the key districts from where the most migrants undertake this perilous journey, once again lost dozens of its men in the waters off Libya.

Bangladeshi nationals arrive at the capital's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after being rescued from Algeria. Photo: TBS

There is no definitive list of Bangladeshis who either lost their lives trying to reach Italy or made it there alive. However, a former police superintendent in Madaripur told us that over a 100 Bangladeshis from the district alone have died in the attempt.

Before they either perish or reach Italy, most of these migrant workers endure brutal torture, are trafficked by Libyan criminals, resold multiple times, and extorted for huge sums.

Alamin Molla was among them. 

"They beat and tortured him until we sent them money, selling whatever we could," his elder brother Jamil Mollah told TBS.

"We spent Tk34 lakh just to get him on that boat. Initially, they charged Tk12 lakh, promising to help him reach Italy. But then the agent sold him to the mafia to extort more money from us, and in the end, we paid Tk34 lakh for his freedom," Jamil said.

Alamin was on the same boat as Roman and Yasin. According to both the other survivors and his brother, he was also taken to Algeria. However, since the first week of September, there has been no trace of him.

"He's only about 20 years old. My parents are constantly worrying about their son," Jamil said.

Both Roman and Yasin said their agent was a woman named Khaleda, who lives in their village. They claimed she was responsible for selling them to mafia agents, which led to them paying an enormous amount of money.

Both of them spent over Tk25 lakh before they even boarded the boat.

"When we asked Khaleda about our suffering, she just told us, 'Do whatever you can,'" Yasin said.

We tried calling Khaleda, but she was unreachable.

In addition to the sea route to Italy, Bangladeshi migrants have also reported using the desert route to Spain through Algeria and Morocco.

Among five Bangladeshis repatriated from Algeria, two had taken this desert route.

One of them was Mozammel Haque from Sherpur.

"I was sold and tortured in Libya when my attempt to reach Italy via the Mediterranean failed. Then I heard that we could pass through Morocco to Spain," Mozammel said.

He embarked on the desert journey alone but was caught by Algerian police before reaching Morocco and spent several months in jail.

"I don't know who to blame for this. I'm drowning in debt, and I don't know how I will pay it back," he added.