Human traffickers are cashing in on the desperation of thousands of Bangladeshis, luring them with false promises of jobs and residency before trapping them in a cycle of extortion, violence, and often fatal journeys across land and sea.

Bangladesh’s former ambassador to Malaysia and Italy, Md. Shameem Ahsan, has sounded a stark warning to citizens contemplating dangerous routes to Europe, insisting that no dream of prosperity is worth gambling with one’s life. “No Bangladeshi in the future should try to migrate through such risky routes, whether it is in Italy or any other country,” Ahsan said in a video message posted on the official page of the Bangladesh mission in Kuala Lumpur, reports BSS. 

Mr. Ahsan's message comes against the backdrop of a record number of migrant deaths worldwide. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed 8,938 deaths in 2024—making it the deadliest year ever recorded and continuing a five-year trend of rising fatalities.

Bangladeshis are among the largest groups attempting the treacherous Central Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Italy. In January this year, at least 23 Bangladeshi migrants drowned when their overcrowded boat sank off the Libyan coast, a grim reminder of the 2020 massacre in Libya, when traffickers shot dead 26 Bangladeshis.

IOM data show that at least 155 Bangladeshis died en route to Europe between 2014 and 2022, though the real toll is thought to be far higher as many disappear without trace. Causes of death range from drowning and hypothermia to deliberate abandonment at sea.

Those who survive often find themselves undocumented, exploited in agriculture and shipyards, and living in legal limbo for years.

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Each new tragedy underscores the urgent need for a coordinated response—raising public awareness, cracking down on trafficking networks, and creating safer, legal migration options.

The problem is far from localised. Over 30,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year, despite new Franco-British agreements to send irregular arrivals back to France. Nearly 40 percent of asylum applications in the UK are now lodged by small boat arrivals, underscoring Europe’s growing migration crisis.

While Frontex reports a 25 percent fall in irregular border crossings into the EU in early 2025, the Central Mediterranean route remains the deadliest and busiest for those determined to reach Europe.

Bangladesh’s global migration footprint makes it especially exposed to such risks. The country is the sixth-largest migrant-sending nation, with more than 7.4 million citizens abroad in 2021. Their remittances, worth over $20 billion annually—roughly five percent of GDP—are a lifeline for the economy.

Migration has long been seen as a path out of poverty, but growing economic inequality, unemployment, corruption in the recruitment sector, and climate-related displacement are pushing many to gamble everything on dangerous journeys to Europe and North America.

Italy remains a primary destination, hosting the largest Bangladeshi diaspora in Europe. In 2022, more than 15,000 Bangladeshis arrived in Italy by sea, making them the third-largest group of arrivals. Smugglers typically charge upwards of $8,000 per person, with some families paying more than €16,000 for the journey—often by selling land or taking crippling loans.

The dangers are no longer limited to Europe. Increasing numbers of Bangladeshis are turning up on routes through Latin America, crossing the perilous Darién Gap in Panama to reach the United States. Some pay smugglers as much as €33,000 for the trip, enduring months of uncertainty in transit countries where kidnapping, robbery, and extortion are common.

Much of this migration is driven by systemic exploitation at home. Prospective migrants often rely on informal brokers, known locally as dalals, who arrange passports, jobs, and travel. While some operate honestly, many charge inflated fees, forge documents, and funnel migrants into illegal routes.

Even regular migration is rife with abuse: recruitment agencies frequently pass costs that should be borne by employers onto workers, plunging them into debt before departure.

Upon arrival abroad, Bangladeshi workers are frequently trapped under exploitative systems such as the kafala sponsorship regime in the Middle East, which ties them to employers and makes it almost impossible to escape abuse without risking detention and deportation.

Bangladesh’s government has tried to regulate recruitment through the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013 and anti-trafficking laws, but weak enforcement and pervasive corruption have blunted their impact. Bilateral labour agreements with destination countries have also failed to meaningfully curb abuse.

Analysts warn that unless Dhaka cracks down harder on exploitative recruiters and improves job opportunities at home, thousands will continue to risk their lives in search of a better future.

Climate change will likely intensify these pressures. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, facing recurring floods, cyclones, and coastal erosion that displace millions each year.

With cities already overcrowded and unable to absorb new arrivals from climate-hit regions, cross-border migration will become an even more critical survival strategy.

Ambassador Ahsan’s warning is therefore both a humanitarian plea and a policy challenge. Preventing more Bangladeshi deaths in the Mediterranean and beyond will require a multi-pronged response—strengthening law enforcement, dismantling trafficking networks, expanding safe and legal migration pathways, and addressing the root causes of migration at home.

Without urgent action, the deadly trade in human lives will continue to flourish.