174 Bangladeshis return home from Libyan detention centre

A total of 174 Bangladeshis who had been held in a Libyan detention centre after attempting to reach Europe through irregular routes returned home today.

“Altogether 174 people arrived from Libya at around 6:00am,” Group Captain SM Ragib Samad, executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), told The Daily Star.

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The returnees include three women, a child and 15 people who are physically unwell, according to a notification from the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya.

They were repatriated from the Ganfuda Detention Centre in Benghazi on August 17 with assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and travelled to Dhaka on a Buraq Air flight.

The Bangladeshis had attempted to cross the Mediterranean sea to reach Europe in search of a better life. They were either rescued or detained during their journeys and subsequently held for a prolonged period at the Ganfuda detention centre, where they lived in inhumane conditions, according to officials.

The embassy said it has been working closely with the Libyan authorities and the IOM to facilitate the safe and humanitarian repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals held at detention centres in the country.

It regularly interviews Bangladeshis detained at the Ganfuda centre in Benghazi and the Tajura Detention Centre in Tripoli and arranges their repatriation, according to the notification.

The latest group was brought home following approval from the Libyan authorities and with support from the IOM. The embassy said efforts were continuing to repatriate the remaining Bangladeshis held at the Ganfuda and Tajura centres.

It also urged Bangladeshis not to be lured by brokers and human traffickers into attempting irregular journeys abroad, warning that such journeys could lead to death, disappearance, hostage-taking or prolonged detention.