BANGLADESH embassy in Tripoli has confirmed the deaths of 37 Bangladeshis in boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia. Five of the survivors were sick and undergoing treatment in Tunisia and the survivors were sheltered in an accommodation managed jointly by the Red Crescent and International Organisation for Migration in Tunisia.
Survivors told the Red Crescent that the tragedy unfolded after some 75 people who had left Zuwara on the northwestern Libyan coast late Thursday on a large boat were transferred to a smaller one that sank off Tunisia, reports AFP from Tunis. The boat sank 65 km off the coast of Sfax, south of the capital Tunis. Fishing boats rescued 16 people and brought them to shore in Zarzis, according to the Red Crescent.
According to survivors, the Italy-bound boat had on board only men, including 51 Bangladeshis, three Egyptians, several Moroccans, Chadians and other Africans. Fourteen Bangladeshis, including a minor, were among the survivors.
The IOM says as many as 443 migrants either died or went missing in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe in boats as of May 8 this year. The figures were 2,299 in 2018 and 3,139 in 2017. According to European Union; there are some 100,000 undocumented Bangladeshis in Europe.
The greatest tragedy in undocumented migration is not that it is illegal or against the laws of the lands, but rather that the conditions which force them to migrate. Most undocumented migrants come from countries ravaged by war or other socio-economic ills to ensure a better future for themselves.
This, then, remains the main problem. The inability of many developing nations is to get their administrations in order. This results in poor economic planning, reduced levels of infrastructural investment, runaway inflation, low levels of quality employment and other symptoms of the deep malaise which exists in monolithic societies.
For the rest of the body to function the head must also be in order. Any administration incapable of functioning in the correct manner will bring about asymmetry or social discord. Thus instead of blaming the migrants for partaking in so-called illegal migration by risking their lives we must take into account the factors which made them undergo such migration in the first place. The blame for that must lie with the administration.
