Efforts on to catch recruiter responsible for Andaman boat tragedy

A Z M Anas

The government has launched an all-out drive to net the recruiting agency responsible for the Andaman boat tragedy that killed over 300 Bangladeshi job seekers in the Bay, a caretaker adviser said Friday.

"The ministry has intensified its drive to identify the recruiting agency as quickly as possible," the outgoing adviser of overseas employment ministry, Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, said.

Dr Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the Foreign Office, noted that a stringent and punitive action would be taken against the agency involved in defrauding more than 400 would-be migrants bound for Malaysia.

"It's absolutely unacceptable. People can go abroad and land jobs over there by means of legal way. There is no need to resort to illegal paths," Dr Chowdhury told the FE.

More than 300 Bangladeshis along with some Myanmar nationals who were on six rickety boats are feared to have drowned off the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. The tragedy took place when the job seekers were deported by the Thai authorities and later jumped into the sea to swim ashore.

The Indian coastguard rescued so far 88 people near Little Andaman island, some 90 kilometres south of Port Blair, the island's capital, according to media reports.

Bangladesh, a major manpower exporting nation, pulled in as much as US$8.0 billion in remittances in 2008 financial year from its overseas working class. Money sent home by an estimated five million non-resident Bangladeshis helps the country head off shocks to its external trade balances, making it a crucial pillar of the economy.

Until September of 2008, the manpower adviser said the country's official manpower exports reached 0.80 million.

Limited job opportunities within the country, officials and experts say, force a large number of Bangladeshis each year to out their lives at stake, lured by promises of employment by a section of 'unscrupulous' manpower recruiting agencies.

"The latest incident is simply a reflection of the desperation of some Bangladeshis who are often betrayed by manpower brokers," an official of the state-run manpower bureau said.

"There is no need to go by seas risking lives. You can get legal visas with reasonable fees," he added.

"It's still difficult to say whether the victims are actually Bangladeshis or not. But we've instructed our missions to identify Bangladeshis and take preparations for repatriation," the foreign adviser said.

He added that the ministry has taken all possible steps to bring the Bangladeshi survivors back to the country, while stepping up efforts for the rescue of the missing voyagers.

Mr Chowdhury said neighbouring countries were also requested to help join the rescue efforts for the tragic mishap, deadliest in the country's history.

In 2005, 26 ill-fated Bangladeshis suffered similar fate in the Mediterranean on their way to Spain.

In November last, some 12 Bangladeshis were killed in a road accident in Turkey while illegally crossing to Greece.

Officials said they are yet to get any specific information about the Bangladeshi recruiting agency associated with human trafficking.