Thirteen Bangladeshis, rescued in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Italy, returned to Dhaka Thursday from Tunisia.

All of them, who were victims of human trafficking, came back home on a Turkish Airlines at 1:15pm , Brac Migration Programme head Shariful Hasan said.

They are now under the care of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport authority and being provided with emergency support, including food and water.

Among the 13 returnees, nine are from Shariatpur, two from Madaripur, and one each from Chandpur and Cumilla districts.

Also read: BSF handovers to BGB 5 Bangladeshis held in Fulbari border

Earlier this year they went to Dubai with visit visas and then moved to Libya and finally to Tunisia. Next, they crossed the Mediterranean through Tunisia and headed towards Italy.

On July 1, another 17 Bangladeshis victims and on March 24 seven returned home.

Bangladesh now tops the list of source countries whose nationals have tried to cross into Europe through the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea.

The number of Bangladeshis reaching Europe through the illegal route was 3,332 till July 26 of this year, which is the highest among the 47,425 refugees and migrants reaching Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta, mostly through sea routes in the same period.

Many of them have become victims of either trafficking or smuggling into several countries – Libya, Tunisia, Malta, Bosnia and Herzegovina even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Untold numbers have perished of course. 

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, recorded 937 deaths in just the first six months of this year in the Mediterranean, many of them Bangladeshis. 

Also read: 10 Bangladeshis who illegally entered India, return via Benapole

At least 60,000 Bangladeshis have entered Europe irregularly since 2009, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex.

Also, Covid-19-induced worsening poverty situation can be linked with people's desperation to take risky journeys, crossing the Mediterranean Sea and land routes to reach Europe.

However, the central Mediterranean route has emerged as the key transit point for Bangladeshis seeking irregular migration to Europe, according to Frontex.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 has increased the risk of trafficking not only for potential migrants who are looking for better opportunities in Europe. Recent trends also suggest that traffickers are using social media platforms to lure potential victims of human trafficking.

Around 4,510 irregular Bangladeshi nationals entered Italy, Malta, Spain or Greece in 2020 through sea and by land, according to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix.

At least 17 Bangladeshi migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the Tunisian Red Crescent said in July.

On July 8, the Tunisia navy rescued 49 undocumented Bangladeshi migrants from the Mediterranean.

On July 3, at least 43 migrants, including Bangladeshis, went missing while 84 were rescued after a boat heading towards Europe drowned off the coast of Tunisia.

Several migrant boats sank recently while trying to reach Europe as more people are now trying to make the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean to the continent amid warmer summer weather.

Between May 18 and June 24 this year, Tunisian naval authorities rescued over 700 Bangladeshis, shipwrecked in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe from Libya.

They were part of at least 3,332 Bangladeshis who have so far been either rescued or detained on their way to the continent this year.