Unaccompanied minors from Bangladesh continue to be smuggled in large numbers to Italy via the Libyan coast and land routes in Europe, by the organised rackets that remain active at home, in transit and at the destinations.

Bangladeshi brokers, who have strong connections with transnational rackets, send minor migrants, below 18 years old, from Bangladesh to Italy through all types of illegal channels, an independent investigation reveals.

Local brokers prepare travel documents including passports for the minors, showing them to be above 18, to ensure their smooth air travel as unaccompanied migrants from Bangladesh, families said.

They collect job visas of transit countries and manage the immigration officials through “body contract” process in exchange of certain amount of money, they said.

The investigation found that some families believe that if their underaged sons somehow reach Italy, they would get documents and financial aid from the Italian government, legalising them there.

Minors, 13 to 17 years old, particularly in Madaripur and Shariatpur districts of Bangladesh, desperately try to travel to Italy alone, encouraged by their family members, relatives and neighbours staying in Italy.

Their birth certificates are collected from the Union Parishad offices to make passports. The brokers manage their entire travel from Bangladesh to Italy, according to the families concerned.

Under investigation, the families of at least 10 minor migrants have been traced in Madaripur, Shariatpur, Kishoreganj, Gopalganj, Chuadanga and Magura districts and they have been interviewed separately.

The family members, especially the parents, admitted that the brokers prepared passports of their children by increasing their ages to 19 up till 22 years, though they were below 18. The contacted families sent these minors to Libya during March to May 2021 with the aim to send them to Italy, they said.

When asked for comment, Barrister Shamim Haider Patwary MP, also Chairman of Bangladesh Parliamentarians’ Caucus on Migration and Development, said that sending underaged migrants abroad is tantamount to human trafficking and the involved people should be brought under legal restrictions immediately.

“The below-18 migrants cannot take their own decisions, so sending them abroad to work is trafficking or smuggling,” he said.

According to records of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 1,213 unaccompanied and separated children from Bangladesh have arrived in Italy by sea routes from January to September 2021.

Among the nationality and demographics of arrivals to Italy during the period, the UN agency reported that 5,994 refugees and migrants were from Bangladesh.

In the first nine months of 2021, a total of 46,329 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea, compared to 23,726 in the corresponding period last year. UNHCR also reported that the most common country of origin recorded among refugees and migrants reaching Italian shores was Tunisia (28%), followed by Bangladesh (13%).

Social media used in smuggling

Investigations found that smugglers in guise of travel agents and education consultants continue to attract potential candidates, using social media platforms and advertisements and offering to send them to Italy and other European countries with jobs.

The travel and consultancy agencies, mostly based in Dhaka, Sylhet and major cities in Bangladesh, trace the candidates and pass their contacts on to covered consultant groups who use multiple WhatsApp numbers. In this way they collect the migrants and prepare to send them to Italy through illegal ways.

In her comment, Bangladesh Parliamentarians’ Caucus on Migration and Development secretary general Mahjabeen Khaled said that everyone, from the staff of union parishad councils to immigration officials, should be trained properly to stop illegal migration and smuggling of underaged migrants.

She asked the European Union countries to ease normal recruitment of workers from Bangladesh in a bid to stop illegal migration.

In 2018, Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program’s research on “Gambling on Life: Context and Consequences of Irregular Migration from Bangladesh to Italy”, found that one-fifth (19 per cent of 279 migrants) who reached Italy were minors, below 18 years.

The OKUP chairman Shakirul Islam said that he found a good number of underaged Bangladeshis sent to Italy by boats from multiple African countries were under the Italian government’s asylum programme.

He said that trafficking “rackets and routes” must be identified to bring the traffickers under legal action. “Collaboration with destination countries is very essentials in this regard,” he added.

He called upon the government to take immediate steps to stop manipulation of travel documents from union parishad and passport offices in Bangladesh.

What recruiting agencies say

Bangladesh Recruiting Agencies Oikya Parishad president Tipu Sultan said that no manpower recruitment could end migrant workers from Bangladesh to Italy as the EU country does not recruit workers from Bangladesh regularly.

“The travel agencies are not allowed to deal with recruitment of workers for overseas jobs. If they do this, it will be a crime,” he said.

In an interview, he said that the labour market in Libya still remained closed to Bangladeshi migrant workers due to the unstable situation and no agency can offer job visas to Libya and Italy.

About underaged migrants, the president of the recruiting agencies said, “Illegal migration or smuggling of minors to Italy is tarnishing the image of Bangladesh abroad, so it should be stopped by the authorities.”

The Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) report released by the US State Department has put Bangladesh in the Tier-2 list as the country did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but was making significant efforts to this end.

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad has reiterated the government’s ‘zero tolerance policy’ to stop the human trafficking and illegal migration from Bangladesh to Italy.

On 16 November 2021, in a meeting with Italian Ambassador in Bangladesh Enrico Nunziata, he said that the Bangladesh government launched many anti-trafficking campaigns and has taken up various awareness programmes to discourage illegal migration.

Minister Imran stressed promoting safe migration through improving their skills. The meeting with the Italian ambassador mainly focused on resisting human trafficking and ensuring quality migration.
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