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Will ask ACC to investigate
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Minister AK Abdul Momen said the allegation that a Bangladeshi MP is involved in human trafficking, as reported in the Kuwaiti media, is fake news.
“We have heard it’s fake news. We don’t have any information,” he told journalists at his ministry yesterday.
“Our mission has not provided any information about him. We don’t know about it. One newspaper published it, but then it said its factuality was not verified,” Momen said.
According to media reports, Quazi Shaheed Islam alias Papul is one of the three Bangladeshis who have been involved in human trafficking in Kuwait.
He left Kuwait just before a crackdown on human traffickers began there, Al-Qabas newspaper of Kuwait reported, quoting the country’s home ministry.
The ring of the three amassed about Tk 1,400 crore through trafficking 20,000 Bangladeshis to that country, the CID in Kuwait claimed.
Kuwait’s Arabic daily Al-Qabas and Arab Times last Wednesday published a report against the Bangladeshi human traffickers.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Anisuzzaman, head of chancery at the Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait, said following the media reports naming a Bangladesh MP, the embassy sought details from the Kuwaiti CID.
“We are yet to get any response,” he told The Daily Star.
Quazi Shaheed Islam is managing director & CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group of Companies, one of the largest companies in Kuwait.
Major work of the company is providing cleaning services and construction.
Kuwait is home to some three lakh Bangladeshi workers.
Recruitment cost for workers is around Tk 6 lakh, but the minimum monthly salary is 75 Kuwaiti Dinner (Tk 20,000).
Including overtime, the salary stands at around Tk 27,000, which means it takes around two years to earn the money a Bangladeshi migrant spends as recruitment cost in Kuwait.

Tunisia’s PM designate forms govt but future uncertain
Afp, Tunis
Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh on Saturday formed a new government but it immediately hit major hurdles after members of the key Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party pulled out of the lineup.
Fakhfakh, a former finance minister, was tasked by Tunisia’s president with forming a government after a previous list proposed under the leadership of Ennahdha was rejected by parliament following October legislative elections.
Several of the ministers chosen by Fakhfakh to join the cabinet are from the ranks of the Islamist-inspired party.
But even before he officially announced the lineup, Ennahdha said it was pulling out of the government.
“Ennahdha’s decision places us in a difficult position,” Fakhfakh said.
He said he had agreed with the president to search for a solution through legal and constitutional means, implying that his lineup could be modified.
Ennahdha won more seats than any other party in October’s legislative election, but was still far short of a majority.
The Islamist-inspired party is demanding a national unity government that would include Qalb Tounes, the party of television boss and defeated presidential candidate Nabil Karoui, which is the second biggest in parliament with 38 seats.
“Ennahdha has decided not to take part in the government or in a vote of confidence,” senior party member Abdelkarim Harouni told AFP on Saturday.
Fakhfakh became involved in politics after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, joining the Ettakatol party, which had allied with Ennahdha.
He was named minister of tourism in 2011 before serving as minister of finance from December 2012 until January 2014.
In addition to its political crisis, Tunisia is struggling to meet the expectations of its population, while an assistance package started by the International Monetary Fund in 2016 ends in April.
If there is no government in place by March 15, Tunisian President Kais Saied could dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.