‘Help them survive winter, Covid’
Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants yesterday expressed grave concern about the wretched conditions of several hundred Bangladeshis currently stranded in different locations near the Croatia-Bosnia border.
In a statement, BCSM, a platform of leading civil society organisations in Bangladesh working on migration, urged the Bosnian government to provide food, shelter, and emergency medical services to protect these people from the coronavirus pandemic and cold winter.
It also urged Bangladesh government and international organisations including Red Cross, International Labour Organisation, and International Organisation for Migration to immediately intervene to protect them, reads the statement.
German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) recently reported on the plight of the Bangladeshis, estimated over 500, living in forests and rundown buildings for several months.
These stranded Bangladeshis were lured by "human traffickers" from Bangladesh with networks in the Middle East and Europe, BCSM said citing the DW report. Each of them reportedly paid $10,000 to $14,000 to reach a rich European country.
They made several attempts to enter Croatia but were detained by security forces and pushed back to Bosnia.
Croatian border guards reportedly beat the Bangladeshis and snatched away their belongings including money, phones and winter clothes.
"To the best of our knowledge, the Bangladesh government has not yet made any major initiative to redress their sufferings," said the statement.
BCSM feared with the onset of winter, if no immediate action is taken to rescue them from the forests where they are living under open sky and in tents, some may not survive.
BCSM urged the Bosnian government to provide humanitarian support to this group of people.
It also appealed to Bangladesh government to rescue them and ensure that effective measures are taken to curb all forms of irregular migration including human trafficking and human smuggling from the country.
BCSM also urged European countries to make provisions for regular migration.
The statement signatories include RMMRU, BASUG-Diaspora and Development, WARBE Development Foundation, Brac, Ain o Salish Kendra, and Manusher Jonno Foundation.
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