PORIMOL PALMA and JAHID HASAN, from Shariatpur

A tin-roof house sits quietly beside a narrow road in Shariatpur’s Tulatala village. It belongs to Selim Jamadar -- a farmer and a part-time cattle trader -- and by all appearances, an ordinary man living an ordinary life. Inside, his wife Rina Begum was going about her morning, washing up in the kitchen, the clatter of utensils filling the small room.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until it did. One of our reporters asked about the family’s only son -- Rashedul Islam, who had set off for Italy via Libya in 2023 and never arrived.

In a quiet voice, she started talking about the brokers who persuaded her 24-year-old son to take the perilous route, the wait, and the phone calls that slowly stopped coming. Then her voice gave out entirely.

“Two years have passed, yet I still do not know whether my son is alive or dead,” she said, breaking into tears.

Not only Rina, but also members of nearly two dozen families across several villages in Shariatpur have been waiting for their loved ones who disappeared somewhere between Libya and Italy.

At least 23 young men -- 18 from Shariatpur

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