As the refugee crisis enters its fourth year, the demographics of the men, women and children arriving on Europe’s shores are undergoing an unprecedented shift.
Syrians have so far made up the largest group of migrants attempting treacherous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea, followed by Afghans, Iraqis, Eritreans and sub-Saharan Africans.
In the first three months of last year just one Bangladeshi arrived in Italy, but the number for 2017 stands at more than 2,800, making the country the largest single origin of migrants currently arriving on European shores, according to an exclusive report by The Independent.
Those rescued in the Mediterranean Sea have told aid workers they paid more than $10,000 each to be taken from Dhaka to Dubai or Turkey and onwards to Libya, where the violence and chaos engulfing the fractured country is fuelling powerful smuggling networks.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the emerging route had dramatically changed the demographics of asylum seekers arriving in Italy, who until now have largely hailed from sub-Saharan Africa.
“The thing that’s really changing is the main nationality of the migrants, and the number coming from Bangladesh,” IOM’s Flavio di Giacomo told The Independent.
“By the end of March last year only one Bangladeshi had arrived in Italy – and this year the number is more than 2,831 for the same period.”
Some migrants taken ashore in Sicily and Apulia said their trip to Libya was organised by an “agency” that provided them with a working visa for between $3,000 and $4,000.
“From Bangladesh, they first travelled to Dubai and Turkey, and finally reached Libya by plane,” an IOM spokesperson said.
Some Bangladeshis crossing the Mediterranean have lived in the country for up to four years, while others stay there for just months while attempting to travel directly to Europe.
According to information gathered by IOM, Bangladeshi migrants pay up to $10,000 to reach Libya, then another $700 to board a boat.
The crossing from North Africa to Italy is now the deadliest sea passage in the world, with a record of almost 1,100 people drowning, suffocating or dying of hypothermia on overcrowded boats so far this year.
Chaos following the British-backed removal of Muammar Gaddafi has seen countless armed factions, including Isis, wage bloody battles for territory as widespread lawlessness allows smugglers to work unchecked along the coast.
They coordinate with gangs inland to detain migrants in squalid detention centres, where Salah has met imprisoned Bangladeshis, while others continue to work in restaurants, services and construction.
Bangladeshis are frequently employed for semi-skilled or unskilled labour in north Africa or the Gulf, receiving worse pay and treatment than migrants from richer countries.
A controversial agreement struck between the EU and Turkey last year has reduced comparatively shorter and safer crossings over the Aegean Sea to a trickle, leaving Libya the main launching point for refugee boats.
But moves to support Libyan detention camps have been criticised by humanitarian groups and the UN, which warned that refugees suffer arbitrary detention, rape and torture, and that pushing them back into a warzone could violate international law.
The dire situation has so far scuppered prospects of replicating the controversial EU-Turkey deal, while talks between the GNA and a rival Russia-backed warlord in the east ended without agreement this week.