Welcome to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.
But is it really Nicosia or another Dhaka?
A weird question, I know, but as soon as I drove into Nicosia from Paphos, a nice beach town, I started to wonder.
In one part of the city, where Bangladeshi General M Humayun Kabir based the Force Commander of the United Nations mission in Cyprus, you can hear loud voices of people speaking Bangla. So many.
At one point, I am told, Cyprus became a favourite destination for people from various developing countries, including Bangladesh, for education, jobs, and as a gateway to Europe.
Misuse of these facilities led to the ban of Bangladeshi students. Nicosia observed that most never continued their studies and went on to overstay their welcome. Many became illegal.
However, what is a matter of pride there is that the UN Force Commander is from Bangladesh, which is a huge honour for the country. When I was looking around for his address, the locals appeared to know where it was in the upmarket area.
It was a Saturday and residents were out of their homes in hordes, shopping, clubbing, or just strolling in the parks.
I stopped for lunch at a Syrian restaurant and found some young men speaking in Bangla. I felt something in the pit of my stomach, pride perhaps.
I approached one of them. He seemed to be scared and wanted to avoid talking to me. But I insisted: “Brother, I have come from London on a visit. What are you doing here?”
He replied, without giving his name, that he was from Chittagong and was studying. I asked him if he had managed to land a job, to which he replied “yes, but it is tough. Not all of us have work permits.”
“Miss home and family?” I asked. He nodded and said, “I have to do something before I can go back. It cost my family a considerable amount of money to send me here.”
As I walked and drove around the city of Nicosia, there seemed to be no dearth of Bangladeshis. Of course, there were also people from Pakistan and India.
The Asian diaspora seemed very much at home, passing their weekend by meeting friends in pubs, parks, or homes. Some even travelled to other cities.
In the beach town of Paphos, a friend of mine, a young man in his 20s, is based and regularly commutes to his university in Limassol. I met him and some of his friends over a cup of tea.
As I walked and drove around the city of Nicosia, there seemed to be no dearth of Bangladeshis. Of course there were also people from Pakistan and India. The Asian diaspora seemed very much at home
Life was indeed tough. These young men told me they work in farms picking oranges or in vineyards. There have even been instances where they had been injured. But they needed the money -- if not for education, to just survive and send some money back home. Some even work as household help.
Unbelievable, but true.
Shocked, I asked them: “If you can do all these here why don’t you go back to your villages and help your family with their farming or household chores?”
Mahadi, one of the friends, answered: “I have to at least pay back the money I took for coming to Cyprus.” Alam added: “We cannot do these jobs at home as it will be a shame. Now that we are here, it is best for us to continue and see what future has kept in store for us.”
Saif, my long-time friend, has slimmed down dratsically from his hard work, studies, and little rest. His skin has darkened compared to when I saw him back in Dhaka.
“I did not realise that it would be so tough ... but it was always a dream of mine to study in a European country,” he added.
I thought about how tough life can be and wondered if we could provide these men with jobs back home, where they will be happy and the country will be benefitted.
Maybe there’s still a long way for us to go.
Nadeem Qadir is the Press Minister of Bangladesh High Commission in London.