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Worldwide
-DW Information
“I made a decision to go to Libya when my father died a couple of years in the past. I used to be the one particular person of the eight-member household who needed to do one thing to take care of the household,” Lakuira Sobuj, a Bangladeshi migrant who got here to Italy final 12 months by crossing the Mediterranean sea on a ship from Libya, instructed InfoMigrants.
The 25-year previous Bangladeshi citizen spent round €4,000 to go to Libya in 2020, which was his main vacation spot for work. He was not planning to return to Europe at the moment.
“My household is impoverished. My mom works as a housemaid in our village within the central Bangladeshi district of Shariatpur. I needed to promote our cow and take some mortgage to go to Libya,” he instructed InfoMigrants.
Sobuj, who did not go to highschool throughout his childhood as a result of poverty, labored as a development employee for a couple of months within the Libyan metropolis of Benghazi. However, it was troublesome for him to get a wage from his employer. He was crushed when requested for his dues. In some unspecified time in the future, Sobuj decides to take the harmful boat journey from Libya to Italy for a greater life.
Crossing the Mediterranean
“We spent round 24 hours on a ship to cross the Mediterranean sea to succeed in Italy’s Lampedusa island from Libya on February 21, 2021. There have been 93 individuals on the boat, over 40 of them have been my fellow countrymen,” he instructed InfoMigrants.
Sobuj has been dwelling at a migrant heart in Italy’s capital Rome since then. His dream of getting a job within the European nation is but to be fulfilled.
“I needed to pay one other €2,000 to a human trafficker in Libya for my journey to Italy via the Central Mediterranean migration route. However, I am nonetheless unemployed right here. I do not know anybody right here. No one has provided me a job. My mom nonetheless works as a housemaid again dwelling,” he instructed InfoMigrants, including: “I do not know what’s ready for me sooner or later.”
1000’s of Bangladeshi residents come to Europe through irregular routes
With a GDP of over $409 billion (€362 billion), Bangladesh presently has the world’s thirty seventh largest economic system, and forecasts recommend that the dimensions of the economic system may double by 2030. Despite the fact that the South Asian nation has turn into one of many world’s fastest-growing economies over the previous few years, hundreds of its residents have nonetheless been making an attempt to return to Europe via irregular routes in hopes of a greater and safer life.
Yearly statistics revealed by the EU’s border company Frontex present that not less than 8,667 Bangladeshi residents entered the block final 12 months via irregular routes. Of them, 7,574 got here through the Central Mediterranean route, 604 through the Japanese Mediterranean route, and 437 through the western Balkan migration route.
Bangladesh stays on the second place of the record of nations revealed by the Frontex whose residents take the harmful Central Mediterranean migration route that connects Libya with Italy. Seven Bangladeshi migrants died of hypothermia final month whereas reaching Italy’s Lampedusa island from Libya the earlier month. Such casualties are common occasions on the irregular route.
Italy — the prime vacation spot of Bangladeshi migrants
Frontex statistics recommend that almost all Bangladeshi migrants who entered the EU through irregular routes final 12 months took shelter in Italy. The Western European nation has remained the first vacation spot for a lot of Europe-bound Bangladeshi irregular migrants over the previous few many years.
Arafat Rahman, a Bangladeshi migrant who got here to Serbia final 12 months with a seasonal employee visa, instructed InfoMigrants that his final vacation spot was Italy.
“I’ve already spent hundreds of euros to discover a technique to attain Italy from Serbia. And, I am hoping to make it potential quickly,” he instructed InfoMigrants.
The migrant claimed that Bangladeshi human traffickers who reside within the Balkan nation take 4 to 6 thousand euros per particular person to smuggle them from Serbia to Italy.
“The most secure technique to make the journey is getting right into a lorry that goes to Italy from Serbia. However, it’s essential to pay some huge cash to traffickers to make it occur,” Rahman stated, including: “Different methods embrace crossing the borders on foot, which is dangerous however cheaper.”
Nonetheless, Rahman wasn’t in a position to make the journey but. As a substitute, he ended up dwelling at a migrant heart within the Balkan nation as a human trafficker had stolen his cash and threatened to take his life if he tried to complain to police in regards to the incident.
“I got here to Serbia with the hope to succeed in Italy after failing to get a job as a pc operator at a courtroom in Bangladesh. They instructed me to pay a bribe of €16,000 to get the job that may pay me round €160 per 30 days as a wage,” Rahman instructed InfoMigrants.
“However, I made a decision to not take the job because the bribe was too excessive. I’ll earn way more in Italy and can pay again the mortgage that I took to return right here,” he added.
Why Italy?
“Round 150,000 Bangladeshi migrants reside in Italy. They’re employed in numerous sectors together with agriculture, shipbuilding, and road buying and selling,” Shameem Ahsan, Bangladesh Ambassador in Rome, instructed InfoMigrants.
No different EU nation has that many Bangladeshi migrants. The diplomat thinks that the Western European nation has a welcoming angle in the direction of foreigners. It additionally legalizes irregular migrant employees sometimes.
“There was a public notion that Italy could be very lenient in the direction of foreigners. That is why many individuals imagine that they’ll get authorized standing sooner or later after someway getting into the nation utilizing totally different routes,” Ahmed instructed InfoMigrants.
Restricted alternative for authorized migration
After a protracted break, the Italian authorities allowed hiring employees from Bangladesh each in “seasonal” and “non-seasonal” classes from 2020. In keeping with a round issued by the Bangladesh embassy in Rome final month, Italy will subject 69,700 visas for 31 non-European Union nations, together with Bangladesh, this 12 months.
“Bangladeshi migrants ought to attempt to come to Italy via authorized methods. Irregular migrants will ultimately be deported as Bangladesh has signed Normal Working Procedures (SOPs) with the EU to hurry up repatriation,” Shameem Ahsan stated.
However, consultants suppose that the authorized means for Bangladeshi migrants to Italy continues to be minimal.
“Solely 3,500 Bangladeshi migrants will have the ability to come to Italy beneath the latest round. It is a tiny quantity in comparison with the a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals concerned with coming to the European nation,” Palash Rahman, a Bangladeshi journalist primarily based within the Italian metropolis of Venice, instructed InfoMigrants.
“We have to create extra authorized alternatives for Bangladeshi employees to deal with irregular migration to Europe,” he stated.
”InfoMigrants is a information and data web site for migrants to counter misinformation at each level of their journey. It’s a collaboration led by France Médias Monde, Deutsche Welle, and the Italian press company ANSA.
Go to InfoMigrants
Supply: DW
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