144 irregular migrants return home from Libya

The government yesterday brought back 144 irregular Bangladeshi migrants from north African country Libya.

A chartered flight of Buraq Air carrying the migrants landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital around 4:00am, the foreign ministry said in a press release.

With them, a total of 1,390 Bangladeshis has been brought back home from Libya since July last year, it added.

These migrants had been "detained" at various locations, including "detention centres" in Tripoli and Benghazi, the release adds.

They were brought back home with the support of International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Upon their arrival, officials from the foreign ministry and IOM greeted them at the airport.

Besides, IOM provided Tk 6,000 each and some food to the returnees.

Attending the repatriated migrants at the airport, Mostofa Jamil Khan, director (welfare) of the foreign ministry, stressed generating awareness among people to avoid irregular paths of migration.

The release says the foreign ministry, Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli, and IOM have been working jointly to safely bring back Bangladeshis who have been in distress, including those in detention centres in Libya.