Bangladesh PM vows to punish illegal overseas job seekers

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed on Sunday to punish Bangladeshis who attempted to move to other countries illegally.

"Side by side with the middlemen, punishment will have to be given to those who are moving from the country in illegal way ... They are tainting the image of the country along with pushing their life into a danger," Hasina was quoated as saying in a report of the state-run BSS news agency.

"I think such an unlawful trend may be stopped if the fortune- seekers, who are going to abroad illegally, are punished side by side with the middlemen."

The prime minister asked the government to crack down on illegal migration and human trafficking.

"You will have to conduct publicity and campaign so that the migrant people don't need to give money to the middlemen for going abroad in illegal way and doing this work, they are falling into a trap," she said.

The prime minister made the remarks after some 6,000 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi migrants were believed to be still stranded at sea in precarious conditions. "Dead bodies are being found from the forests and jungles ... it is very unfortunate," she said.

Despite various steps for sending Bangladeshi workers in a legal way, she said, such kind of people are moving to an uncertain destination after giving a huge amount of money to the middlemen. Endi