38 Bangladeshi Migrants killed by Human Traffickers in Libya; Bangladeshi Embassy struggles to retrieve bodies

In a gunfight on Thursday, 42 migrants, including 38 Bangladeshis were killed by human traffickers in Libya. The incident took place in Mizdah, about 180 kilometers from the capital of Libya, Tripoli. These workers were held captive by the traffickers here.

The Bangladeshi embassy in Libya said that they were struggling to retrieve the bodies of Bangladeshi migrants.

The survivor told embassy that they had paid the human traffickers between $8000 and $10,000 to reach Europe through Libya. The deal between them went haywire when the traffickers demanded more money enroute. The gunfight started when the hostages attacked and killed the Libyan traffickers leader. After this his associates started shooting, killing 26 Bangladeshis and injuring 12 others. Four migrants from Africa were also killed.

The Labor Counselor at Bangladeshi Embassy to Libya, A.S.M. Ashraful Islam said in an interview on Friday, “The injured people have bullet wounds and one of them is in critical condition, currently in a hospital in Tripoli with a severe brain injury. The others are out of danger.”

International Organization for Migration (IOM) is helping the Bangladeshi Embassy to Libya in this situation by providing medical equipment and expert doctors to the injured. The Embassy further said that they are however facing trouble in recovering bodies of the deceased Bangladeshi migrants.

Mr. Islam said, “We have some difficulty in receiving the dead bodies of the Bangladeshi nationals from the town of Mizdah as the UN recognized Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) doesn’t have enough control in the area.”

“Preservation of dead bodies for a long period is also tough as there is a huge scarcity of refrigerators and electricity supply in the war-torn country. Once the flight operations are restored, we will repatriate the survivors and dead bodies”, Islam elaborated on the situation.

The Embassy is said to have filed a court appeal for not burying the dead nationals in Libya.