They were detained with around 300 foreign jobseekers from the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
A delegation of Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli inspected the 37 detainees and interviewed all of them yesterday (Monday).
The detained Bangladeshis alleged that they were recently taken to Libya by human traffickers from Bangladesh.
The embassy officials assured them of providing necessary assistance. Three weeks ago, Libyan police rescued at least 65 Bangladeshi fortune seekers from traffickers' den at Tajoura suburb of the war-torn nation's capital Tripoli.
They have also arrested four Bangladeshi human traffickers allegedly for their involvement in abducting these jobseekers and realising ransoms from their families.
Two months ago, Libyan police also arrested three other Bangladeshis traffickers, said ASM Ashraful Islam, Labour Counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy.
“They admitted that they had abducted 140 Bangladeshis. But we think the figure may be larger,” he added.
The Bangladesh government officially banned sending its nationals to Libya in June last year on security grounds. Libya also suspended recruitment of workers against the backdrop of the troubling situation in the North African country, Ashraful said.
However, several syndicates of human traffickers target foreign workers including Bangladeshis and entrap them promising lucrative jobs in some companies that don't even exist in Libya, he said, adding that they bring jobseekers to Libya through Egypt and Tunisian borders.
“They keep the jobseekers in remote areas where the security situation is very bad,” the labour counsellor said.
These traffickers have been working for the last two or three years for some recruiting and travel agents based in Bangladesh.
Currently, more than 30,000 Bangladeshis are working in a risky situation in the North African country that repatriated 32,000 Bangladeshis in 2011 soon after the overthrow of long-time military ruler Muammer Gaddafi.
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