On Tunisia-Libya border - Frustration runs deep
Bangladeshis demonstrate as repatriation comes to halt
Sunday, March 20, 2011
(Morshed Ali Khan writes from the spot where thousands of Bangladeshi workers have taken shelter after fleeing the Libyan upheaval)
With repatriation coming to a virtual halt since Friday, hundreds of stranded Bangladeshi workers at Choucha camp staged a demonstration yesterday demanding return of their passports by the local authorities, and sending them back home.
The demonstrators, mostly young men, who fled Libyan upheaval over the last few weeks, chanted slogans demanding resumption of flights from Djerba airport. They said they must get compensation for the enormous financial losses and agonies they suffered in the process of coming to Libya and then fleeing the turbulent north African country.
"They (authorities) are neither giving us our passports nor are they doing anything to send us home," shouted a young man. The protesters carried banners which said, "We want to go home", "Please send us back to Bangladesh", "Return our passports".
A middle-aged Bangladeshi said, "We cannot understand why all flights have stopped. Do they want us to die here?"
The Tunisian army which is in-charge of security at Choucha camp stood by the road watching the desperate Bangladeshis pass by chanting slogans in Bangla, obviously incomprehensible to them. But each one of them knew the slogan chanting men wanted to go home. "Mais ou est votre gouvernement? (But where is your government?) an army officer asked me. I pointed my finger towards the sky and followed the noisy procession.
Among the officials of the IOM and UNHCR, confusion prevailed over the number of stranded Bangladeshis at Choucha camp. UNHCR officials said on Friday 6,010 Bangladeshis were still awaiting repatriation. But following the demonstration, the IOM and UNHCR officials today conducted a head count and said the number of Bangladeshis at the camp would be around 2,000 at the most.
"Complications arose with many of the Bangladeshis leaving the country with travel documents issued by the IOM. Fearing delay in repatriation, they left behind their passports with the authorities," said an IOM official at Choucha camp. He was explaining why confusion prevailed over the actual number of camp dwellers.
At Djerba airport, 150 km from Choucha, where IOM officials are coordinating the flights for repatriation of displaced people, said the number of flghts for the Bangladeshis has been drastically reduced due to fund constraints of the IOM.
In a joint communiqué to the international community of donors on Friday, top IOM and UNHCR officials in Geneva appealed for funds to conduct the biggest ever evacuation and repatriation programme, arising out of the Libyan uprising.
"A situation like this was predicted over 10 days ago when IOM kept warning the world that its funds were running out fast," said an IOM official at Djerba airport.
Nur-e-Alam, first secretay of the Banladesh Emassy in Switzerland, Saturday afternoon walked into the IOM office at Choucha camp and expressed his desire to distribute about 30 leaflets among the stranded Banladeshis. The leaflets said the government would soon send some aircraft to take the stranded people home.
"I have come here to convey the message given by the high-ups in Dhaka," said Nur-e-Alam. "Tentatively, the Biman flights would be started from March 20."
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