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11 Bangladeshis perish at sea looking for hope

15 others languish in Algerian hospital after 10 days of hunger, thirst on Mediterranean

Star Report
Eleven Bangladeshis died of hunger and thirst in a boat on the Mediterranean en route to Spain from Morocco in the third week of February.
The dead along with 16 others,
including 15 more Bangladeshis, ran out of fuel and supplies, and went without food and water for 10 days on the high sea as the boatman lost his way and headed for Algeria instead of Spain.
Algerian police rescued and arrested the surviving 16 and rushed them to
a hospital.
THEODYSSEY
T\venty-six Bangladeshis, helped by a travel agency, left the country on December 23 with the aim to reach Spain illegally.
Each of them paid Tk six lakh to two brokers -- Reazul Islam Raju and Mostak Ahmed -- of Dohar Travel Agency housed at Basundhara in the city's Baridhara area for the trip, said Syed Mozakker Hossain who has lost two brothers to the tragedy.
Mosaddeq Hossain and Shamsuzzaman Himel were his two siblings who perished, along with nine others, in their desperate effort to migrate by any means to a more affluent economy.
Mozakker Hossain said he met broker Raju of Mollah Bari, Dohar twice before paying him for his brothers' trip.
"The agency flew them to Dubai and from there took them to Mali," Mozakker told The Daily Star. "I had a talk with them over telephone for a minute when they were at Mali."
Their condition there was really bad, Mozakker said, adding, "They again called us after reaching Morocco by road, saying there the condition became even worse."
"They said they were not given adequate food during the 11 days it took them to reach Morocco from Mali. They were utterly dejected," he said, quoting one of his brothers as saying, "We would not have come here if we knew how much suffering was awaiting us."
Moroccan police arrested the group as they were travelling without proper documents and sent them to Algeria, Mozakker said. "The brokers again smuggled them back to Morocco," he added.
In Morocco the brokers put them on board a boat for a supposedly four-and-a-half-hour trip to Spain, said Mozakker.
But the captain of the boat lost his direction and headed for another
way, resulting in their scanty supply of food, water and fuel running out soon.
After a aimless floating about on the Mediterranean for nine days without any food and water, the aspirant migrants started to drop dead one after another.
Of the brothers, Mosaddek was the first to go on February 23. His body was thrown into the sea. His brother Himel followed him the next day.
The death toll would have passed beyond the 11 if the Algerian Navy did not rescue the surviving passengers of the boat.
One of Mozakker's relatives residing in Spain noticed the rescue news aired on the national TV channel. He inquired about the dead and relayed the sad news to Mozakker, who later talked with one of the survivors named Mintu at the hospital. Mintu provided him with the details of the ordeal.
The identities of the rest of the team could not be known.
MINISTER SAYS
When contacted yesterday evening, Expatriate's Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Mohammad Quamrul Islam admitted to the accident and said, "I've always discouraged people to go abroad illegally." He told The Daily Star to contact the foreign ministry for details.
On whether his ministry would take any action against the travel agency accused of sending the people abroad illegally, Islam said the travel agencies are not under his jurisdiction and told The Daily Star to contact the civil aviation and tourism ministry.