Bangkok, Thailand (BBN)-Bangladesh will repatriate its citizens “preferable within a month or so” who have been drifting on sea without supply.
Md Shahidul Haque, the foreign secretary of Bangladesh, disclosed this at the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean on Friday, said a press statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh.
“Let me assure that we take the responsibility to repatriate Bangladeshi citizens in irregular situations abroad with utmost seriousness. We are maintaining heightened surveillance, including through our law enforcement agencies and local governments, to prevent further victimization or deception of our people by the traffickers, said a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh on Friday.
Thailand capital Bangkok held a special meeting to discuss possible solutions to the South East Asia migrant crisis.
The talks include member states from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) as well as representatives from the US and the UN.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have seen an exodus of people fleeing south by boat to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Thousands are thought to be stranded at sea in abandoned boats.
Most are economic migrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar – also known as Burma.
“No sooner had we received news of these tragedies, we asked the Bangladesh Missions concerned to immediately rush to the ground,” the press statement added.
“Our officials have already collected antecedents of self identified Bangladeshis, or have obtained consular access for doing so. Our Envoys are personally supervising the matter. According to our initial estimates, there are about 30 percent of Bangladeshis among the victims recently rescued,” the statement which published on Friday said.
“We shall arrange to conclude the nationality verification of these people within the shortest possible time, and shall repatriate them to Bangladesh preferably within a month or so,” said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Haque.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar for bringing the victims to safety and providing them necessary humanitarian assistance.
The Bangladesh foreign secretary also said that some of the trafficking victims rescued this month are reportedly Bangladeshi nationals.
“Let me assure you that we take the responsibility to repatriate Bangladeshi citizens in irregular situations abroad with utmost seriousness. We are maintaining heightened surveillance, including through our law enforcement agencies and local governments, to prevent further victimization or deception of our people by the traffickers,” Haque said.
He also said that Bangladesh is deeply concerned over the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in the Indian Ocean.
He said it time to say ‘enough is enough’.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Government considers this to be a direct challenge to our ‘zero tolerance’ approach to human trafficking. We are determined to go all the way to stop and reverse this trend,” the statement highlighted.
The statement also depicts the real picture of the migrants crisis saying, from our initial interview with the victims, it appears that they were allured or enticed by the traffickers with the false prospect of high-paid, secure jobs abroad, often without asking for any advance payment.
“Some others were reported to have been tricked and forced on to the boats by the traffickers. The current cases are, therefore, not irregular migration by sea. These are manifestations of a human trafficking trade at its worst. And certainly this is a recent trend, not seen in the past in Bangladesh,” it added.
“We have mobilised all our concerned law enforcement and border security agencies for patrol across our maritime borders. Since 01 May 2015, our Coast Guard has intercepted a number of boats in our waters and rescued 132 people. Our naval forces remain on alert to go up to the High Seas to rescue victims and bring the culprits to justice.
“As we respond to the current challenges, we are not necessarily reinventing the wheel. We are guided by a robust policy framework, laid down by our government and that is being translated into a range of bold and targeted actions. Our unstinting commitment to combating human trafficking is linked to our pursuit of peace and sustainable development.