14 trafficking victims return home today
Fourteen Bangladeshi trafficking victims, who were rescued by the Malaysian authorities from the Andaman Sea in May last year, will return home this afternoon.
A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying them is scheduled to land at the capital's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 5:30pm, according to Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
The 14 are Nurul Amin, Abdul Aziz, Syed Alam, Mannan, Aziz, Shahadat Hossen, Aiyaz and Saiful Islam of Cox's Bazar, Alim Hossen and Nazir Molla of Jhenidah, Abdul Karim and Abul Hossain of Chittagong, and Naim and Akram of Narsingdi, Begum Shahida Sultana, first secretary at the Labour Wing of the high commission, confirmed The Daily Star on Thursday.
With these 14, the total number of the returnees from Malaysia now stands at 670, she said, adding that 82 more would return shortly.
"We are sending back the rescued migrants, whose nationality verification was confirmed. We will send back the remaining ones soon," added Shahida.
The embassy official said the government was bearing all the repartition expenses.
A total of 716 Bangladeshi migrants were rescued from Malaysia's Langkawi Island on May 11, and some others were rescued later.
Earlier, over 4,000 Bangladeshis were rescued in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar between May and June last year.
Of them, more than 3,000 have returned home from those countries since last June. And several thousand victims are still missing.
Malaysia, the largest labour receiving country in the Southeast Asia, is a major destination for job seekers of South Asia and adjacent regions.
Comments