50 Bangladeshis held in Tunisia

At least 50 Bangladeshi migrant workers were detained by Tunisian coastguards while they were going to Italy illegally by a ship through the Mediterranean Sea on June 4.
They were among the 269 people of different nationalities, who were travelling to Italy in search of work, Ahsan Kibria Siddiqui, first secretary (labour) at Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, told The Daily Star last night over phone.
The Bangladeshis have been kept in a detention centre in an Island in Tunisia, said Kibria, who visited the detainees on June 5.
The migrants who worked in various sectors in Libya tried to enter Italy by a ship from Tripoli.
It could not be known immediately who were taking them to Italy illegally.  
Kibria said they would try to find out who had arranged their travel to Italy without valid documents. But it would be difficult as there is no Bangladesh Mission in Tunisia.  
Many foreign workers had been detained during their attempts to enter Italy illegally from Libya since a war broke out in the African country in 2011.