so poor Bangladesh people are forced to risk their lives migrating to other countries through illegal human trafficking racket

Bangladeshi authorities are struggling to recover the bodies of 26 nationals after they were killed in a gunfight by human traffickers in Libya on Thursday. A group of 42 migrants, including 38 Bangladeshis, was held captive by traffickers in Mizdah, around 180 kilometers from the capital Tripoli, the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya said, quoting one of the survivors. The survivors said that they had paid between $8,000 and $10,000 to the traffickers to reach Europe through Libya, but that suddenly more money was demanded. As the hostages attacked and killed the leader of the Libyan traffickers, his associates started to shoot at them, killing 26 Bangladeshis and injuring another 12. (Source: Arab News, 30 May 2020).

Comment:

The killings in Libya were in no way an isolated incident; our poor emigrants are being subject to harassment, abduction, hostage taking, abuse, torture and even killings for several decades. Only a few of these incidents gets coverage in the media. Also, almost in every calendar year, thousands of anonymous Bangladeshi emigrants and refugees drown in the Bay of Bengal or Mediterranean Sea while fleeing their country. After every tragedy we point our finger to the human traffickers who have a wide international network and often stay out of the reach of law enforcement agencies. Though, sometimes we see arrest of one or two of their gang members (See: ‘RAB arrest suspected trafficking leader after Libya massacre’; New Age, 01 June 2020) these are just to sway the public eyes away from the root causes of these so called forced economic migration.

Bangladesh is blessed with a huge manpower but unfortunately, the secular-capitalist system of the country has failed to make use of these resources for local development and industrialization. Our corrupt rulers have shattered the socio-economic conditions and people are forced to leave the country for their livelihood.  For nearly 50 years of Bangladesh, capitalist democracy has failed to offer any hope or prospect either for the highly skilled or for the unskilled people. Though the skilled and wealthy people can find a means to emigrate legally, the poor-unskilled labor have no choice but risking their lives migrating through these human traffickers. So, taking measures to dismantle the human trafficking racket is not enough to prevent the recurrence of this type of tragedy. The capitalist – democratic system which is responsible for widespread corruption and massive unemployment must be replaced with the Khilafah (Caliphate) system. The Khaleefah (Caliph) will unify and utilize the Ummah’s natural as well as human resources so as to become a leading industrial State of the world. Only then we can expect the dangerous human trafficking coming to an end.

Mohammad Kamal

Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh