Staff Reporter: 30 Bangladeshis have returned home after crossing the Mediterranean to enter Europe. They landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Thursday at 12:05 pm on a Turkish Airways flight from Tunisia. The information provided by them at the airport is being checked and sorted by various concerned authorities.
This information has been confirmed by Shariful Islam, the head of BRAC’s migration program. He said, in collaboration with the Expatriate Welfare Desk, emergency food and water have been delivered to the returning Bangladeshis at the airport. Earlier this year, they first went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on a travel visa. He then went to Tunisia from Dubai via Libya. From there they were rescued after crossing the Mediterranean to Italy. BRAC knows the information that speaks to these Bangladeshis.
According to the BRAC Migration Program, 6 of the 30 returnees are from Shariatpur, 6 from Madaripur, 4 from Gopalganj, 3 from Tangail, 2 from Faridpur, Kishoreganj, and Sylhet, and one each from Comilla, Noakhali, Munshiganj, and Dhaka. Earlier, on August 19, 13 Bangladeshis, on July 1, 18, and on March 24, 6 Bangladeshis fell into the same situation. Later they returned to the country. Many more Bangladeshis are waiting to return.
BRAC says that the tendency of Bangladeshis to migrate to Europe by crossing the Mediterranean is increasing. From January to August this year, at least 5,026 Bangladeshis entered Europe in this way. And in the last 12 years, about 75,000 Bangladeshis have entered illegally. Of these, about 40,000 Bangladeshis have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe. Most of them are between 25 and 40 years old.
