Dreams for better lives in Europe ending in tragedies

Hossain Mia, 32, left his home in Gopalganj for Italy on 14 March last year by contacting a group of middlemen.

At first, he went to the United Arab Emirates and from there to Libya as Tripoli is an important junction for people attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean. After reaching Libya, he, along with some other aspirant migrants, tried to cross the Mediterranean twice.

But luck did not favour Hossain as the Libyan coast guard detained him when he was trying to cross the Mediterranean – for the second time – by a trawler with the help of the middlemen.

He ended up in a Libyan detention centre and had to stay there for nine months before he was deported on 10 March this year with a group of 109 Bangladeshis with the help of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya.

Hundreds of Bangladeshi youths take similar risky perilous journeys to Europe each year and  most of them face the same fate as Hossain, while some most unlucky ones end up drowning in the sea.

Around 902 Bangladeshis have returned home from Libyan detention centres since September last year and most of them tried to reach Europe through irregular routes, according to the foreign ministry.

Among them, 223 Libya returnees including Sajib of Gopalganj were staying in Ashkona Hajj Camp, a quarantine centre for returnee migrants.

"Hoping to reach Italy, I paid Tk19 lakh to two middlemen named Sajib and Shamim at different times. Both of them live in Libya, but their relatives received the money from my family members," Sajib Mia told The Business Standard.

"I borrowed the majority of the money from some neighbours against a huge interest rate. Now I don't know how to pay this huge amount of money," he added.

Although the initial deal was to pay the middlemen Tk7.5 lakh, the traffickers pushed his family for more after he had reached Libya. They even tortured him.

"I was blackmailed and I will take legal action against them," said Sajib.

He said his wife was unable to stay home with their three children to avoid the lenders.

Annual statistics published by the European Union's border agency Frontex show that at least 8,667 Bangladeshi citizens entered the block last year unlawfully.

Of them, 7,574 came via the central Mediterranean route, 604 via the eastern Mediterranean, and 437 via the western Balkans.

Bangladesh is second on Frontex's list of countries whose citizens take the dangerous central Mediterranean route connecting Libya and Italy.

Frontex statistics also suggest that most Bangladeshi migrants who entered the EU via irregular routes last year ended up in Italy. It has become the favoured destination for many Bangladeshis over the past few decades.

For many Bangladeshis looking for entry to Europe, going through Libya using risky channels has become a popular route, although many are victims of fraud and human trafficking.

In January this year, seven Bangladeshis died of hypothermia while trying to reach Lampedusa from Libya. Such casualties are common on this route.

At least 26 Bangladeshi migrants in captivity were shot dead and 11 others were wounded overnight in what appeared to be an attack by hostage-takers at a Libyan town in 2020.

In May 2019, 39 Bangladeshi died in the Mediterranean Sea when they tried to go to Europe.

"We found that most of the Europe aspirants through irregular routes were from the age group of 20-25 with most from Madaripur, Shariatpur and Faridpur. They pay up to Tk10 to 18 lakh to traffickers," Seheli Sabrin, director general (consular and welfare) of foreign ministry, told TBS.

"Bangladesh is going to be a middle-income country and has set a target to be a developed one within 2041. But the irregular journey of thousands of Bangladeshi to Europe is becoming the news items of international media which tarnished the country's image," she said, adding that they have zero tolerance on human trafficking. Awareness building is the top programme to combat unlawful migration, she added.

Meanwhile, the IOM and the foreign ministry have taken initiatives to provide mental counselling to these returnees so that they can return to normal life and be aware of such migration perils.

"With a GDP of over $409 billion, Bangladesh currently has the world's 37th largest economy, and forecasts suggest that the size of the economy could double by 2030. Even though the South Asian country has become one of the world's fastest-growing economies over the past few years, thousands of its citizens are still trying to go to Europe through irregular routes in hopes of a better and more secure life," InfoMigrants, an EU based migration portal recently reported.

Dr Tasneem Siddiqui, a migration specialist, said that people who can collect Tk15-20 lakh suggest that they are well off.

"When people are economically doing well, their purchasing power increases and so does their expectation. Hoping for a better life, they are heading for Europe," she said.

Dr Tasneem, who is also the founding chair of Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit, slammed Europe's immigration policy for the irregular migration and said, "They need people but they are not opening up enough legal means for migration causing people to attempt to reach European destinations illegally."