Deaths in sea

The dead young men have left a message for us. What are we offering our youngsters? They were taking grave risks to survive possibly after having failed to find anything worthwhile in their homeland. The desperation of the young men that drove them to such a perilous journey should serve a notice on us to take their peers under our wings.

Hundreds of Bangladeshis are on record having been sent back home by immigration authorities of the countries they had tried to enter illegally. And even those who succeeded in sneaking through the borders didn't have their dreams fulfilled. Many of them were jailed before being deported or forced to live in great distress and uncertainty.

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The gullible job seekers are often swindled by dishonest among the recruiting agents. Desperation coupled with frustration seem to blind them to the mortal dangers of leaping into the dark. Yet, this has been going on for a long time.

Such deaths and sufferings are not only tragic but also an affront to national image. Unfortunately, the problem of unemployment is getting worse by the day as resource constraints topped by corruption stand in the way of doing what must be done on a priority basis. However, it is imperative that new jobs are created for the large numbers of youths entering the job market every year so that they are engaged in gainful employment and don't feel abandoned and hopeless in their own country and spare the nation the disgrace of losing many of them in tragic circumstances.