Md. Kamruzzaman Khan Picklu, Bagerhat:
Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner (DC) A.N.M. Faizul Haque extended his helping hands to the families of two expatriate workers from Bagerhat who have been imprisoned in Madagascar.
Regarding this, the Deputy Commissioner of Bagerhat said that he knew it from his younger brother working as a Councillor in the Bangladesh Embassy in Madagascar that four of the Bangladeshis were arrested in 2019 for illegally entering Madagascar waters while working on a Chinese-owned ship and two out of the four are the inhabitants of Bagerhat District. 
Madagascar authorities claimed that they entered Madagascar waters for the purpose of collecting illegal timber. On the other hand, according to the Bangladeshi workers, they were only working on the ship as workers. They are not aware of the movement of the ship. But the Madagascar authorities rejected their argument and detained all of them.
It is to be noted that high-ranking officials, including the sailors of the ship was from China and Myanmar. They are all detained now. They have been in prison since 2019 after a Madagascar court sentenced them to five years imprisonment. Two of the four Bangladeshi prisoners are Md. Hasib Sarkar of Chitalmari Upazila and Md. Al Imran of Mongla Upazila.
According to the information given, they are the only earning members of their families. From jail, they said that their families were in dire financial straits in their absence.
When Deputy Commissioner Faizul Haque’s younger brother Councilor Ahidul Islam informed him, he instantly traced the detainees’ families and provided financial assistance twice through the Chitalmari and Mongla Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs).
He also assured the family members of his full support so that the Mauritius Embassy of Bangladesh could take further steps to secure their release.
