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Back home with broken hearts

Cheated by manpower touts, 22 jobseekers return after months of ordeal in Iran

Belal Hossain Biplob and Wasim Bin Habib
Most of them had cherished the same dream - a decent job and handsome salary that would ensure the happiness of their families. And they thought their dreams had finally come true when they landed in Iran.
But none of them had ever imagined the nightmare waiting for them in their 'dreamland'. Deceived and thrown into a miserable life, 22 ill-fated Bangladeshi jobseekers finally returned home yesterday after endur-ing untold sufferings.
"I did not see daylight for 40 days in a row. I lived on only bread and cabbage curry given to me twice a day. I was falling sick gradually and thought I would die," said Akhtaruzzaman, 40, one of the deceived migrants. He hails from Jessore.
"They |the agents of local brokers] used to beat me up for money, although I had already paid them Tk 5 lakh," he told The Daily Star.
Some Bangladeshi brokers and travel agents took the 22 jobseekers to Iran in several groups in January and early February this year, luring them with promises of lucrative jobs in the shipping industry with a minimum monthly salary ofTk 50,000.
The brokers kept the migrants in die dark as they had managed tourist visas for them instead of work permits. They also took away their passports, all documents and money as soon as the migrants had landed in Iran.
"They took me to a house and confined me there. They told me that I had entered Iran illegally as I had no documentsand police would arrest me if I tried to escape," said Sohel Mia, 27, who hails from Narsingdi.
The victims said they were all kept confined in the same house although
they had flown to the country on different dates. They alleged that Hanif Mia, a Bangladeshi living in Iran for 20 years, was the ringleader of the agents.
"Hanif Mia often came to our rooms and put pressure on us to seek money from our families through his mobile phone," said Abdur Razzak, who went to Iran in January.
Razzak's family had eventually sent Tk 1 lakh to a local agent of Hanif Mia
through bKash, he added.
Similarly, the families of the other 21 victims had to payTk 50,000 toTk 2 lakh each to the local agents of Hanif Mia.
Some of the victims' families had reported it to Rights Jessore, an NGO, and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
When the NGO and the CID informed the Bangladesh mission in Tehran, Iranian police with officials of the embassy raided Hanifs house at
Minab city on February 23 and rescued the victims.
Hanif was arrested, but his Iranian wife arranged his bail and released him from prison, said the victims, quoting embassy officials.
The CID yesterday held a press conference on the rescue mission after the victims had landed and were taken to its office in the capital.
"Some human traffickers are targeting fortune seekers to realise ransom
after taking them to Iran with false promises of lucrative jobs," said Shah Alam, additional deputy inspector general of CID.
Cases would be filed against the brokers, travel agents and alleged human traffickers in Bangladesh, he added.
The victims have demanded punishment for the brokers and travel agencies and necessary compensation from the culprits.