The Guardian :
The UN migration agency is the subject of a formal complaint after “severe concerns” were raised about its treatment of Bangladeshi migrants, including children.
A Tunis-based NGO, Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux (FTDES), filed a complaint to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) this month, after migrants alleged officials and diplomats had put pressure on them to return home following weeks at sea.
The group of 64 Bangladeshis said they felt pressed by the IOM to sign a voluntary return paper, or risk arrest.
They also said diplomats from the Bangladeshi embassy had warned them that if they did not sign the voluntary return document, they would become victims of organ trafficking.
“Based on the testimonies we collected, FTDES files this complaint to the IOM to raise severe concerns about the treatment of migrants by IOM Tunisia,” read the complaint.
“The testimonies of the migrants were consistent and all allude to forms of malpractice on the part of IOM.”
The migrants were rescued by the vessel Maridive 601 in May, only to spend another three weeks stranded at sea as European authorities refused to let them land.
“According to the migrants, IOM staff members used intense psychological pressure during the interviews to force them to accept their ‘voluntary’ return to Bangladesh,” said FTDES. “They also said that when they refused to sign the AVRR form, the psychological pressure increased. The migrants attest that neither UNHCR or Unicef were present during these initial interviews, and they did not know that they had the right to claim asylum. Moreover, no medical assistance that they had asked for was provided.”
The IOM has denied any pressure was applied to the migrants to return to Bangladesh, and said that all documentation was explained to them in a language they understood. IOM said migrants were informed of all options available to them regarding asylum and remaining in Tunisia.
The men were among a group of 75 – about half of whom were unaccompanied children – rescued by the Maridive 601. After 19 days at sea , they were allowed to disembark in Zarzis, Tunisia, and were taken to a
Red Crescent reception centre in Tunis. Over the following days, dozens of people were deported to Bangladesh through the voluntary return and reintegration programme.
But nine of the migrants, interviewed by the Guardian, said they felt the IOM had put all of the Bangladeshi migrants under immense psychological pressure to return to Bangladesh while they were still on the boat, and after they’d docked.
“The IOM gave us a sheet,” said one. “The documents said nobody would force us to leave. They told us the police here in Tunisia will arrest us and they don’t know when we’ll be released. The government in Bangladesh is not helping and neither are the Tunisians. Please, we want to stay.”
Another said: “Every day they asked us what we had decided. They knew we didn’t want to go back, but they kept asking us anyway. They told us to sign a paper in French, but I don’t speak French. They told me to sign that paper and return to Bangladesh. But I didn’t sign it.” The men said the IOM did not provide translations.
One of the men, who spoke some English, said he was asked to translate, but he said: “At the time I had no idea what a ‘minor’ was, what the ‘UNHCR’ was, or what ‘asylum’ was,” he told the Guardian.
“They tried to scare us. they wanted to send us back to Bangladesh,” said another migrant. “People started to cry. I would rather be killed than go back.”
A spokesman from the Bangladeshi embassy in Tripoli, which is responsible for Tunisia’s affairs, said he couldn’t comment on the specific incident, but was aware of the allegations against embassy officials, and was “taking the accusations very seriously”.
The UN migration agency is the subject of a formal complaint after “severe concerns” were raised about its treatment of Bangladeshi migrants, including children.
A Tunis-based NGO, Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux (FTDES), filed a complaint to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) this month, after migrants alleged officials and diplomats had put pressure on them to return home following weeks at sea.
The group of 64 Bangladeshis said they felt pressed by the IOM to sign a voluntary return paper, or risk arrest.
They also said diplomats from the Bangladeshi embassy had warned them that if they did not sign the voluntary return document, they would become victims of organ trafficking.
“Based on the testimonies we collected, FTDES files this complaint to the IOM to raise severe concerns about the treatment of migrants by IOM Tunisia,” read the complaint.
“The testimonies of the migrants were consistent and all allude to forms of malpractice on the part of IOM.”
The migrants were rescued by the vessel Maridive 601 in May, only to spend another three weeks stranded at sea as European authorities refused to let them land.
“According to the migrants, IOM staff members used intense psychological pressure during the interviews to force them to accept their ‘voluntary’ return to Bangladesh,” said FTDES. “They also said that when they refused to sign the AVRR form, the psychological pressure increased. The migrants attest that neither UNHCR or Unicef were present during these initial interviews, and they did not know that they had the right to claim asylum. Moreover, no medical assistance that they had asked for was provided.”
The IOM has denied any pressure was applied to the migrants to return to Bangladesh, and said that all documentation was explained to them in a language they understood. IOM said migrants were informed of all options available to them regarding asylum and remaining in Tunisia.
The men were among a group of 75 – about half of whom were unaccompanied children – rescued by the Maridive 601. After 19 days at sea , they were allowed to disembark in Zarzis, Tunisia, and were taken to a
Red Crescent reception centre in Tunis. Over the following days, dozens of people were deported to Bangladesh through the voluntary return and reintegration programme.
But nine of the migrants, interviewed by the Guardian, said they felt the IOM had put all of the Bangladeshi migrants under immense psychological pressure to return to Bangladesh while they were still on the boat, and after they’d docked.
“The IOM gave us a sheet,” said one. “The documents said nobody would force us to leave. They told us the police here in Tunisia will arrest us and they don’t know when we’ll be released. The government in Bangladesh is not helping and neither are the Tunisians. Please, we want to stay.”
Another said: “Every day they asked us what we had decided. They knew we didn’t want to go back, but they kept asking us anyway. They told us to sign a paper in French, but I don’t speak French. They told me to sign that paper and return to Bangladesh. But I didn’t sign it.” The men said the IOM did not provide translations.
One of the men, who spoke some English, said he was asked to translate, but he said: “At the time I had no idea what a ‘minor’ was, what the ‘UNHCR’ was, or what ‘asylum’ was,” he told the Guardian.
“They tried to scare us. they wanted to send us back to Bangladesh,” said another migrant. “People started to cry. I would rather be killed than go back.”
A spokesman from the Bangladeshi embassy in Tripoli, which is responsible for Tunisia’s affairs, said he couldn’t comment on the specific incident, but was aware of the allegations against embassy officials, and was “taking the accusations very seriously”.
