Bring killers of 26 Bangladeshis in Libya to justice: Brac

Bangladesh-based international development organization Brac on Friday demanded arrest and punishment of the gang involved in killing 26 Bangladeshi citizens in Libya. 

In this regard, Bangladesh needed the cooperation of various international organizations, Brac's immigration program chief Shariful Hasan demanded in a press statement on Friday. 
 
Libya is at a civil war over who will control the country. This is their internal affair. But with this opportunity, the human trafficking gang has been active there for almost a decade.

They are taking an average of three to four lakh taka from a single person in the name of sending people to Europe.

Camping across the Libyan border near the Mediterranean, they are taking people hostage and sending them to Europe in small boats. Bangladeshis are often losing their lives in accidents there. 

Countries need to work together to bring this gang to justice, says the statement, adding that Bangladeshis who have returned from Libya in the last few years have been assisted by IOM and Brac's Protyasha project.

International organizations have to take responsibility so that no more immigrants die in the war-torn country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare of Bangladesh have to play a strong role in this regard, it demands.

According to the UNHCR, about 2.5 million people crossed the Mediterranean Sea from 2014 to April this year. More than 19,000 people have lost their lives while crossing the sea in this way, including many Bangladeshis. 

Bangladeshis are in the top ten of the list of people trying to enter Europe through the Mediterranean. From January to April this year, 693 Bangladeshis were detained while trying to enter Europe. The journey of Bangladeshis to Europe with countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Ivory Coast, Iraq, Guinea and Sudan also puts the image of the country in crisis.

Sending workers from Bangladesh to Libya has been stopped for the last five years. Even then, how so many people are going to Libya from Bangladesh should be investigated, it says. 

Therefore, the local brokers and human trafficking gangs in this area should be identified and brought to book, it demands.