The government is checking the claim brought by the parents of missing Ahsanullah University student Sabbir Hassan that he was among the rescued boat people, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam.
The junior minister on Wednesday night shared the photo of the missing student on his official Facebook account and posted: “We are checking [Amra khonj nichchhi]."
Sabbir's parents ascertained that a youth seen in a photograph, published in a national daily in Bangladesh, is their son Sabbir, private television station Channel I reported on Wednesday.
The state minister said: "We have a list containing the names of a total of 422 persons, who were on the first few boats. But Sabbir's name was not there, I have checked those names."
"However our officials have gone to Aceh to list down the identities of other rescued Bangladeshis. I am keeping contact with them. Lets hope for the best," he added.
Showing the photograph, which portrayed a pale youth sleeping among the trafficking victims, Sabbir's mother told the private TV station: “I can identify that it is surely my son’s image.”
“This is my son’s sleeping style. Look at his cheeks, he has become very thin.”
A group of 34 students of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology went to St Martin's Island on April 14, 2014. Later, some students were washed away in the bay.
Four of the students died while Sabbir and his friend Uday Hassan remained missing.
Human trafficking has become a burning issue around the world including Asia. Thousands of migrant people rescued from boats were leading to Thailand, Malaysia illegally. Recently, hundreds of migrant graves were found in Thailand and Malaysia. Many of them belong to the nationality of Bangladesh.
