Twenty-one Bangladeshis, including five children, returned home through the Benapole checkpost on Friday evening after serving time in Indian prison in different terms, starting from six months to five years.
The returnees comprising 10 women, 6 men and 5 children, belong to Dhaka, Bagerhat, Khulna, Barguna, Narail, Munshiganj and Cox’s Bazar districts.
They returned to the country with a special travel permit issued by the Government of India on coordinated efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, and the Special Task Force on Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children in West Bengal and Kolkata, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Raju Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Benapole checkpost immigration, said they were lured to India with promises of good jobs in different times. But Indian police arrested them while working from home in different parts of the country, including Kolkata.
From there, NGOs called MM Rescue, Sanglap and Talash put them in a shelter home.
In the presence of the Director General (Consular and Welfare) and Assistant Secretary (Welfare) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a delegation from Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata handed over all the Bangladeshi women and children to the local Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Upazila Women and Children Affairs Officer and law enforcers’ agencies, said the release.
After the immigration process, they were handed over to two NGOs — Justice Care and Rights Jashore.
Source: United News of Bangladesh