36 return home
Thirty-six Bangladeshis returned home yesterday after they were confined and tortured in a Sothern Thailand jungle near which another 118 Bangladeshi trafficking victims were rescued last week.
A flight of Bangladesh Biman carrying the victims landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 4:30pm, said Mujibur Rahman, senior ASP of Criminal Investigation Department (airport).
Thai police rescued the 36 Bangladeshis at the end of January from the jungle after they were trafficked into the country early that month, he added, quoting the returnees.
The victims were kept in several detention centres following their rescue.
So far this year, Bangladesh has identified more than 700 trafficking victims as its nationals following their rescue in Thailand. Before yesterday, 300 of them were sent back home, according to foreign ministry officials.
The traffickers used to beat up, abuse and leave the 36 Bangladeshis with no food, just the way the recently rescued 118 Bangladeshis were treated, the CID official said.
Most of the victims are from Jessore, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, Natore and Gazipur districts.
Like the 118 Bangladeshis, these 36 victims were also lured with well-paid jobs either in Thailand or Malaysia and were picked up from the coast of Cox's Bazar.
They were also offered low-cost journeys, Mujibur said, adding that on average, the criminals had demanded up to Tk 150,000 from each of their families as ransom.
We will launch drives against those involved in trafficking once the victims file cases in this regard, added Mujibur.
Ayesha Khatun, mother of Sajeeb Hosasin, one of the 36 returnees, told The Daily Star that her eight-grader son had left their home in Gazipur ten months ago, without saying anything.
Later, Sajeeb called her and said he was detained in a forest after being trafficked into Thailand.
Recently, he called his mother again to inform her that he was detained by Thai police.
“I sent him Tk 15,000 as flight fare and I am very happy to get my son back,” said Ayesha.
Meanwhile, CID yesterday said it would launch drives to arrest those involved in trafficking the 118 Bangladeshis into the Thailand jungle where they were forced to work as slaves.
“We will talk to the victims after they return and then, we will start our investigation to identify whoever involved in the crime,” Ashraful Islam, special superintendent of CID, said.
The drives to detain the criminals would begin following filing of cases in connection with their trafficking, he added.
The 118 Bangladeshis who had recently been rescued from a tree plantation in the deep Thailand jungle are now kept at different detention centres for their repatriation, said officials at Bangladesh embassy in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), a platform for private manpower recruitment agencies, condemned the trafficking yesterday.
In a press release, the platform demanded that the government identify the traffickers and ensure their exemplary punishment immediately.
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