Staff Reporter:
A fresh batch of 136 irregular Bangladeshi citizens returned home from Libya on Thursday by a chartered flight of Buraq Air UZ 0222.
With this, the total number of returnees rose to 534, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
The Bangladeshis were in Benghazi detention centre, it said.
On arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the repatriated Bangladeshi citizens were welcomed by the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM gave them each pocket money of Tk 6058 and some food items.
At that time, Mostofa Jamil Khan, director (Welfare) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, inquired about the repatriated Bangladeshis. He advised them to talk to neighbours and relatives about their terrible experiences in Libya.
He said that the returnees can play an important role in creating awareness about illegal migration among people.
The process of repatriating Bangladeshis trapped in Libya is ongoing with the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh Embassy, Tripoli and with the financial support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Those who are in the detention centres of Libya will be brought back gradually, it added.
As part of the repatriation process, 143, 110 and 145 irregular Bangladeshi nationals detained at the Ainjera Detention Center in Tripoli were transferred on a chartered flight on November 28, 30 and December 6, respectively.
