B’desh may punish illegal migrants

Dhaka, May 25: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi has called for strict punishment to migrants, who illegally leave Bangladesh and set out towards Southeast Asia by sea, and the human–traffickers who assist them, media reported on Monday. “They are tainting the image of our country on the intertiol stage, and putting their own lives in danger,” Hasi told a meeting with senior officials of the labour and employment ministry on Sunday, according to reports by tiol news agencies.
“I think such an unlawful trend might be stopped if the fortune–seekers who are leaving the country illegally are punished side–by–side with the middlemen,” she said.
Hasi directed the ministry to conduct public information campaigns targeting potential illegal immigrants, “so they don’t feel the need to give money to the middlemen to go abroad illegally seeking work, so they don’t fall into this trap”. (IANS)