A total of 172 Bangladeshi nationals voluntarily returned home from Libya early Thursday.

They arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 4:51am on a Buraq Airlines flight from Misrata.

The return was facilitated by the Libyan government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in coordination with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, said a press release.

Most of the returnees entered Libya after being lured by human traffickers, intending to travel to Europe illegally by sea.

Many of them allegedly experienced kidnapping and torture at different times while in Libya.

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant ministries, along with representatives of IOM, welcomed the returnees at the airport.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the returnees to share their harrowing experiences with others to raise public awareness about the risks of irregular migration.

IOM provided each returnee with travel expenses, some food items, primary healthcare and temporary accommodation, if necessary.

The ministries, the Bangladesh mission in Tripoli and the IOM are working together to ensure the safe repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals detained at various detention centres in Libya.