Staff Reporter :
Rescued from the Andaman Sea by the Indonesian authorities around three months ago, 18 Bangladeshi fortune seekers returned home in the small hours of Saturday.
They reached Dhaka from Jakarta on a Malaysia Airlines flight around 12:10am, said Anindya Dutta of International
Organization for Migration’s Dhaka office.
He said the trafficking victims hailed from Narsingdi, Jessore, Chuadanga, Satkhira and Sylhet.
Talking to journalists at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the returnees said they were beaten mercilessly and abandoned in the middle of the sea as they refused to pay traffickers ransom.
Minhaz Uddin, who hails from Alamdanga of Chuadanga, told BBC Bangla Service that he was feeling lucky to have returned home.
“Some brokers lured us into going to Malaysia by sea by promising us good jobs there. But instead of jobs, we were in captivity and we starved for days,” one of the victims told journalists.
They said each of them was asked to pay Tk 2 lakh to Tk 2.2 lakh only after reaching the country. But, the traffickers demanded the money in the middle of the journey.
After being abandoned, the Bangladeshis were adrift at sea for days. They were rescued after they came to the notice of the Indonesian authorities. They were taken to a refuge centre in that country afterwards.
Later, they contacted the Bangladesh embassy in Indonesia and sought its help, said the victims.
After their nationalities were confirmed, the IOM arranged their repatriation upon Bangladesh government’s request, said Anindya Dutta.
Last week, 144 Bangladeshis returned home after being rescued from the Bay by the Myanmar navy.
Meanwhile, the government will repatriate its illegal immigrants held at the Belantik detention centre in Kedah of Malaysia as soon as possible, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Md Shahidul Islam has said.
Regarding repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis, Shahidul told Malaysian news agency Bernama on Friday.
Rescued from the Andaman Sea by the Indonesian authorities around three months ago, 18 Bangladeshi fortune seekers returned home in the small hours of Saturday.
They reached Dhaka from Jakarta on a Malaysia Airlines flight around 12:10am, said Anindya Dutta of International
Organization for Migration’s Dhaka office.
He said the trafficking victims hailed from Narsingdi, Jessore, Chuadanga, Satkhira and Sylhet.
Talking to journalists at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the returnees said they were beaten mercilessly and abandoned in the middle of the sea as they refused to pay traffickers ransom.
Minhaz Uddin, who hails from Alamdanga of Chuadanga, told BBC Bangla Service that he was feeling lucky to have returned home.
“Some brokers lured us into going to Malaysia by sea by promising us good jobs there. But instead of jobs, we were in captivity and we starved for days,” one of the victims told journalists.
They said each of them was asked to pay Tk 2 lakh to Tk 2.2 lakh only after reaching the country. But, the traffickers demanded the money in the middle of the journey.
After being abandoned, the Bangladeshis were adrift at sea for days. They were rescued after they came to the notice of the Indonesian authorities. They were taken to a refuge centre in that country afterwards.
Later, they contacted the Bangladesh embassy in Indonesia and sought its help, said the victims.
After their nationalities were confirmed, the IOM arranged their repatriation upon Bangladesh government’s request, said Anindya Dutta.
Last week, 144 Bangladeshis returned home after being rescued from the Bay by the Myanmar navy.
Meanwhile, the government will repatriate its illegal immigrants held at the Belantik detention centre in Kedah of Malaysia as soon as possible, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Md Shahidul Islam has said.
Regarding repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis, Shahidul told Malaysian news agency Bernama on Friday.
