Over 500 Bangladeshis were arrested by Libyan police off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea while they were attempting to cross over to Europe by sea from Tripoli, Bangladesh's Ambassador to Libya, Major General SM Shamim Uz Zaman confirmed.

"Initially, the Libyan police informed us about the detention of 500 Bangladeshis. However, we have been able to contact 240 people so far," the ambassador was quoted as saying by Voice of America (VOA).

Significantly, Bangladeshi nationals were banned from traveling to Libya for almost four years. The ban was lifted by Dhaka only earlier this year. This is the first time in recent years that such a large number of Bangladeshis were detained on a single day.

Earlier in 2016, Libyan authorities arrested a large number of Bangladeshi and also rescued over 600 from the sea in the same year, reported The Daily Star.

In 2020, 26 Bangladeshi migrants, who were confined by brokers, were killed. The incident and the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 drastically reduced the movement of the undocumented migrants.

A large number of Bangladeshi migrants travel to Libya in search of jobs. However, those who could not get work there try to go to Europe without proper documents. Over 500 Bangladeshi workers have been rescued from the sea so far this year, according to the International Organization of Migration.

(SAM)