Latest modern slavery fight updates - FreedomUnited.org

Traffickers exploiting Bangladeshis in Libya

  • Published on
    December 7, 2021
  • News Source Image
  • Category:
    Human Trafficking
Hero Banner

Traffickers are exploiting young Bangladeshi’s hopes of escaping poverty by offering them fake work placements in Libya, trapping them in horrific conditions once they arrive.

“Dalals” and trafficking

Known in Bangladesh as “dalals”, these so-called travel agents traffic young people by convincing them to undertake the long journey to Libya promising them rewarding jobs. In reality, they end up being held for ransom in prisons or forced to work in factories for no pay in terrible conditions and indebted to the dalals.

Ali was just 19 years old when he made the long journey to Libya after he was befriended by a dalal in his home country and promised a job earning $500 a month working in factories. With his parents’ blessing, Ali embarked on the week-long journey only to be taken to a prison upon arrival in Benghazi.

Conditions in Libya

There, he was kept in a cell with 15 other Bangladeshis in violent conditions. People in his cell were regularly beaten if they were unable to contact family members to pay their ransom. Ali’s parents were forced to sell their last two cows to pay for his release.

But his ordeal wasn’t over. Ali ended up working for the traffickers in a tile factory in Tripoli.

Ali told BBC News:

“If we stopped working we were beaten, kicked and thrown to the ground. One time one of us broke a tile, then a man came and kicked the guy,” Ali says.

The teenager was living with the owner of the tile factor under lock and key.

“The owner took us to work and then when we were done he took us home. There were two guards watching us. We didn’t get paid for the job, there wasn’t enough food and so we wanted to run away.

“One of us tried, but he fell from the second floor and broke his leg.”

After various failed escape attempts, a kindly Libyan helped Ali find refuge at a mosque. He felt his only option was to contact traffickers again, this time to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

Though Ali is now safe in Italy and earning money to send back to his family, his application for humanitarian protection that would allow him to remain in Italy has been denied.

The EU’s role

Ali was lucky to make it to Italy. Many people who attempt the same journey are returned to dire conditions in Libya where they are subjected to torture and servitude. We are urgently calling on the EU to stop funding the Libyan coastguard and take accountability to tackle slavery in Libya.

Join the campaign today.

Subscribe

Freedom United is interested in hearing from our community and welcomes relevant, informed comments, advice, and insights that advance the conversation around our campaigns and advocacy. We value inclusivity and respect within our community. To be approved, your comments should be civil.

stop icon A few things we do not tolerate: comments that promote discrimination, prejudice, racism, or xenophobia, as well as personal attacks or profanity. We screen submissions in order to create a space where the entire Freedom United community feels safe to express and exchange thoughtful opinions.

Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

This week

India’s shrimp industry contaminated by forced labor, hazardous conditions, new investigations reveal

The insatiable demand for shrimp in Western countries has led to the rapid expansion of hatcheries and processing plants across traditional farming communities in India. However, according to recent investigations by Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), the Associated Press and Outlaw Ocean, not only are the new hatcheries and processing plants contaminating the water and soil making it almost impossible to staple grow crops like rice, they also hide

| Wednesday March 20, 2024

Read more