104 detained in Algeria

Relatives of 104 Bangladeshi migrant workers held captive in a camp in Algeria have urged the government to bring them home.
The Algerian army captured the Bangladeshi nationals while they were trying to cross the North African country to go to Spain for jobs.
The migrant workers, held in Algerian territories over the last five months, might face imprisonment for trespassing unless Bangladesh government brings them home immediately, they said at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.
"Thirty-five of the detainees are sick. They suffer from diarrhoea and skin diseases. They live in crowded rooms and get dry food once or twice a day," said Mohammad Yunus, quoting his detained son Sohel Rana, who spoke to his father over the phone.
Algerian army allowed the detainees to contact their relatives, said Ujjal Mahmud, brother of another detainee Hasanur Rashid.
The foreign ministry should directly contact the Algerian government since Bangladesh does not have any mission in Algeria, he said in presence of the relatives of 60 detainees.
Yunus said most detainees went to Libya with work permit. But they either did not get jobs or salaries from their employers. They paid some brokers Tk 4 lakh each on assurance that they would be provided with jobs in Spain.
The relatives of the detainees submitted a letter to the foreign ministry urging it to bring them home immediately, he said.
Abdur Rahim Siraj of Habiganj said he gave broker Sohel Mia in Libya and his mother Diluara Khatun in Habiganj Tk 2.5 lakh, after Sohel promised to take his son Kamal Mia to Spain.
On May 27, Sohel and five others including Kamal left Libya for Spain. But Sohel deserted others in Algeria and went back to Libya.
Algerian army detained Kamal and four others -- Mohiuddin, Abbasuddin Rubel, Nazmul Haque and Shahid Ali -- for trespassing, he said.
"We came to know about the incident later and asked Sohel's mother to help bring our children home. But she and her son denied any financial dealings."