IOM has helped a group of 39 Bangladeshi workers who were duped by
unscrupulous agents into fictitious jobs in Liberia to return home.

The men, who came from different parts of Bangladesh, travelled
with proper documentation to Liberia in November 2009, after being
offered jobs allegedly paying USD 500-700 a month in Liberia's
emerging garment industry.

The migrants all paid USD 3,000-5,000 to agents to cover one-way
tickets to Liberia and necessary paperwork. Some claimed that the
agents had also promised them subsequent jobs in Europe.

They travelled by the air from Dhaka to Liberia via Dubai and
Ghana, or via Qatar and Nigeria. Soon after their arrival in the
Liberian capital Monrovia, they were taken to the northern town of
Ganta, which borders the Republic of Guinea.

After their arrival in Ganta it became clear that they had been
cheated and trafficked for labour exploitation.

But in March they were rescued by Liberian government officials,
in collaboration with the IOM Office in Monrovia, members of the
Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the UNMIL Bangladeshi
peacekeeping contingent.

"These people were rescued through good inter-agency cooperation
and as a direct result of the vigilance shown by the community and
law enforcement officers who had attended IOM counter-trafficking
training workshops," says IOM Liberia Chief of Mission Ferdinand
Paredes.

Acting upon a tip-off from local residents, the Liberian Bureau
of Immigration and Naturalization subsequently arrested five
Bangladeshis and one Liberian national on charges of human
trafficking.

After their rescue, the trafficked men stayed in a government
shelter in Monrovia, where they received direct assistance from
IOM, including food, clothing, and medical assistance and
counselling. 

On Tuesday, June 1st they flew home to Dhaka, with the agreement
of the Liberian and Bangladeshi governments. Their travel was
arranged by the Bangladeshi Bureau of Manpower Employment and
Training and the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas
Employment.

Welcoming their return home and the prosecution of their
traffickers by the Liberian authorities, IOM South Asia Regional
Representative Rabab Fatima said: "IOM is supporting Bangladesh's
efforts to improve recruitment monitoring systems, develop ethical
guidelines for recruiting agencies, and introduce a better
complaints mechanism for people like these who become victims of
trafficking."

For more information, please contact:

Ferdinand Paredes

IOM Monrovia

Tel: + 231 5 703 584 or +231 666 5950

E-mail: "mailto:fparades@iom.int">fparades@iom.int

or

Asif Munier

IOM Dhaka

Tel: +880.1714114659

E-mail: "mailto:amunier@iom.int">amunier@iom.int