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The 81 workers, who returned to Bangladesh after being exploited in Vietnam for months, were thrown into jail on September 1, whereas the perpetrators either remain scot-free or are facing little action.

They are among the 107 migrants who were deported from the Southeast Asian country on August 18. At the end of their 14-day quarantine, Turag Police Station Sub-Inspector Md Anwarul Islam produced all 107 before a metropolitan magistrate on September 1.

The SI prayed to the court to keep them in jail until the probe was over. The court then sent the 81 to jail and freed 26. Two other workers, who returned from Qatar, also landed in jail.

Talking to The Daily Star, one of the 26 freed workers said the returnees were thrown into jail when they were preparing to go home and meet their families at the end of their quarantine.

He believes the 81 workers were jailed because they had demonstrated in front of the Bangladesh embassy in Vietnam, demanding justice and repatriation.