Bangladeshi Migrants: Hundreds in distress in Bosnian woods
Md Yasin, a Bangladeshi youth, took a perilous journey from Oman to Bosnia and Herzegovina two years ago, with a dream of making it to a rich European country.
But things didn't go as planned, and he is now stranded in the woods of Velika Kladusa in the southeast European country near the Croatian border.
Over the last few months, he tried in vain to enter Croatia from there. Whenever he tried to enter that country, the Croatian police caught him, seized all his belongings and pushed him back to Bosnia, according to a report of Deutsche Welle (DW) Bangla published on Sunday.
"I reached Iran from Oman by a speedboat, and then travelled to Greece via Turkey. I entered Bosnia from Greece. I have been stranded in the woods for the past four months.
"Three days ago, I again tried to enter Croatia. This time, I almost made it to the country [Croatia] but was eventually caught by police. They snatched away everything I had and pushed me back," Yasin told German broadcaster DW.
He is one of the several hundred stranded Bangladeshis, now passing their days in inhuman conditions in the woods of Velika Kladusa near the Croatian border amid severe cold, mentioned the DW report.
Most of them reached Bosnia from different Middle East countries. They had to pay hefty amounts to middlemen and made perilous journeys, said the report.
"I had to spend Tk 18 to Tk 20 lakh to reach here. I had to pay the money to middlemen in different countries…," one of the Bangladeshis told DW.
INHUMAN CONDITIONS
Several hundred Bangladeshis are spending night in overcrowded shacks made of polythene sheets. They don't have sufficient food, drinking water and emergency medical supplies.
International agencies were not seen playing an active role in providing support to them , the DW report mentioned.
Many of the Bangladeshis there said officials from some international agencies distributed food among them and provided medical support occasionally but those were not sufficient.
In a separate report published on Sunday, DW Bangla said that failing to get shelter at a nearby refugee camp run by the International Organisation for Migration, more than a hundred Bangladeshis took shelter at an abandoned factory in Velika Kladusa.
Those who took refuge there said they had to endure untold sufferings in cold and rain as the walls and roof of the factory building were damaged.
Despite all this, they still dream of making it to rich European countries, according to the report.
Asked whether they would return home if the Bangladesh government makes arrangements for them, they said their dream is to reach Italy or Spain and that they would not abandon it.