Dangerous desperation

It is ludicrous, particularly in this age of fast shrinking distances due to IT revolution, to suggest that the delay was due to the distance involved between the port city and the capital, Nairobi.

Be that as it may, the least that the government can do for these people is to have them repatriated without delay.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

However, the point that raises our concern is how did such a large group of Bangladeshi land up where they did, some allegedly without valid documents? This must put the efficiency of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare, as well as the immigration department under a question mark, now that several such cases have come to light, of which the death of several Bangladeshis on the high seas, and a preemptive bid to traffick a large number of Bangladeshis out of the country by boat, are but a few examples.

It indicates either that reporting of these matters have gotten better or that the manpower racketeering has become more intensive and better organised. Whichever may be the case, it certainly points to the abject inertia that besets the ministry and several related agencies.

While the propensity of Bangladeshis to seek fortune abroad has reached a dangerously desperate proportion, which may be partly explained by lack of employment opportunities at home, their aspirations for a better future in greener pastures make them easy prey to the dubious mechanism of the unscrupulous travel agents and manpower exporters.

This is where the ministry must focus its energy with other relevant ministries to break the nexus. There is an urgent need to gear up coordination between the relevant ministries as well as different agencies of the ministries.

We suggest the government also tighten up its immigration and exit control measures to prevent such occurrences in future.