345 trafficking victims return from Libya

Bangla Press Desk:   Around 345 undocumented migrants returned to the country from Libya on Friday, said a foreign ministry press release.

It was not clear whether they were held in Libyan detention centres for illegal migrants.

They sought to reach Europe illegally through Libya with support from human smugglers and traffickers, but reportedly became subjects of abduction and torture, the Foreign Ministry statement noted.

The 345 individuals reached the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on two chartered flights operated by Libya’s Buraq Air.

Officials from the foreign ministry and other organisations welcomed them at the airport, and asked them to share stories of their ordeals for alerting others.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, International Organization for Migration and the Bangladesh embassy in Libya worked jointly to ensure their return to the country.

BP/SP