Bangladeshi expats in Libya asked to avoid troublesome areas

Bangladesh embassy in Libya has asked its nationals living in the war-torn country to limit their movement in troublesome areas to avoid kidnappers and traffickers.

"It has recently been noticed that some armed groups are trying to pick up the Bangladeshi workers to vehicles in Tripoli's Crimea and some other places. These groups try to kidnap the workers and realise ransoms by running inhuman tortures on them," said a statement issued by the embassy.

Libyan law enforcers have advised the Bangladeshis to be careful while visiting the conflicting and risky zones and shift to the safer places, the statement said.

In the last several weeks, Libyan law enforcers arrested at least 10 human traffickers allegedly for their involvement in confining and realising ransoms from Bangladeshi workers.

The Bangladesh government officially banned sending its nationals to Libya in June last year on security grounds. Libya also suspended recruitment of workers against the backdrop of the troubling situation there.

Currently, more than 30,000 Bangladeshis are working in risky situations in the North African country that repatriated 32,000 Bangladeshis in 2011 soon after the overthrow of long-time military ruler Muammar Gaddafi.