As the desperate bid to enter Europe crossing the Mediterranean Sea continues, 81 migrants – 32 of them Bangladeshis including a woman – were rescued on Saturday off Tunisia’s northeastern coast, the Tunisian navy said. They had set out for Europe from Libya on a barely seaworthy vessel. It is the world’s deadliest migration route, but people hoping to build a better life in Europe increasingly risk it.
Libya, wracked by decades of conflict and lawlessness, has reportedly become a key departure point for African and Asian migrants making desperate attempts to reach European shores in poorly-maintained vessels. Many of the aspirant migrants are being arrested from the Mediterranean Sea. Other than the Bangladeshis, the boat, which was damaged around six-kilometer off Tunisia northeastern coast, also carried 38 Egyptians, 10 Sudanese and a Moroccan, all aged between 20 and 38, the Tunisian navy said. They were handed over to the National Guard for processing.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), nearly 2,000 migrants drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2021, compared to 1,401 the previous year. The aspiring migrants often endured horrific conditions in Libya before embarking on overcrowded unseaworthy vessels as more than 160 migrants died within a week in similar incidents, bringing the total number of lives lost this year to 1,500 or more. Brac says, more than 9,000 Bangladeshis braved the perilous journey through the sea from January last year to this April. At least 500 Bangladeshis are rescued from the route every year, it said. Hundreds of thousands of people have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing in recent years, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East
In view of the facts, the relevant authorities needed to ensure a safe migration process starting from the negotiation to sending a worker to his/her workplace.
