174 Bangladeshi detainees return home voluntarily from Libya

After a long wait in a Libyan detention center, 174 irregular Bangladeshi citizens have returned home through voluntary repatriation. The repatriation process was successful with the joint efforts of the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, local authorities and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

They landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a special chartered flight of Libya's Buraq Air at 5:30am on Thursday (May 7). The 174 returning citizens were detained at the Ganfuda Detention Center in Benghazi. Upon arrival at the airport, they were received by officials from the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as representatives of the IOM.

Among the repatriated migrants, 13 are reported to be physically ill. They have been given primary treatment and necessary instructions for further treatment at the airport. In addition, IOM provided each of them with travel allowance and emergency food assistance.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Libya said in a statement that a delegation recently visited the Ganfuda and Tajura detention centers and confirmed the status of a total of 895 Bangladeshis. Of these, 174 have been sent back in the initial phase.

The work of bringing back the remaining ones is underway in two more phases in the next few weeks. Another large group will return from the Ganfuda detention center on May 18. It has been reported that the remaining ones will be repatriated from the Tajura detention center in Tripoli on May 24. In all, a total of 524 Bangladeshi citizens are scheduled to return home from Libya this month. Most of the returning migrants were lured by brokers and taken to Libya by tempting them to illegally migrate to Europe by sea in the hope of a better life.