Abdul Rashid, a poor carpenter from Narsingdi who struggled to make ends meet every day, started towards Malaysia on a boat four months ago in search of a better life.
Today, his dead body is scheduled to return home from Malaysia on a Bangladesh Biman flight, two months after he died in a detention centre. His brother Abul Kashem will receive his body at Dhaka airport.
Rashid, from Bhelanagar village in Narsingdi, was one of the thousands of migrants who set out for Malaysia via sea on March 27. Dreaming of finding better life opportunities for himself and his family of five members, Rashid embarked on the deadly journey which ended with his death on June 5 in Belantik Immigration Detention Centre in Kedah, Malaysia.
Rashid and his fellow migrants had floated on the sea for nearly two months before making it to the Malaysian shore – they operated their boat themselves after the traffickers on their boat fled from the ship, and reached Langkawi beach on May 11, where Malaysian police arrested Rashid and 716 others and took them to the detention centre.
The reason behind Rashid's death is still unknown, but Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lampur told the Dhaka Tribune that the post-mortem conducted by the Malaysian authorities would reveal how he died.
A letter issued by Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, signed by First Secretary (Labour) Musharrat Jebin, said: “According to the death certificate, the cause of death is pending laboratory analysis.”
However, Rashid's family suspect that he died due to starving for a long time while floating on the sea as well as the torture in the hands of the traffickers on the ship.
Rashid last contacted his family in April, nearly a month after he started his journey to Malaysia, and asked his family to pay Tk2.5 lakh to the local brokers, his brother Kashem told the Dhaka Tribune.
“We paid the money to the local traffickers – Jomir and his wife Fatema – as my brother told me to, because he was being tortured on the boat for the payment. He also said the traffickers were not giving him food regularly,” Kashem said over phone.
“After that call, we lost all contact with Rashid. Later, a group of migrants who had set out for Malaysia with my brother came back on June 17, and one of them told us that my brother had died in a detention centre.”
After learning about Rashid's death, his wife Nasima Begum submitted an application to the Wage Earners' Welfare Board on July 7, requesting the authorities to bring Rashid's body back to Bangladesh.
In Malaysia, Karam Asia Berhad, a Malaysian organisation that deals with the plight of migrants, and Bhalobashi Bangladesh, a Bangladeshi platform in Malaysia, jointly worked to send Rashid's body back home, paying 3,000 Malaysian ringgit to Kuala Lumpur funeral services to start the process.
“There were some problems, but we took care of it,” said Harun Al Rashid, regional coordinator of Karam Asia Berhad.
As the cause of Rashid's death is still unknown, Harun requested Bangladesh government to arrange another post-mortem examination after Rashid's body reached Dhaka.
“It will be fruitful for Rashid's family as they will be able to file a case against the local traffickers who lured Rashid into setting out for Malaysia through the deadly sea route,” he told the Dhaka Tribune on phone.