State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare Mohammad Quamrul Islam received them at Zia International Airport at 8:30pm.

Immigration officials said, with agreement to give them jobs in garment factories, three recruiting agencies sent them to Jordan with tourist visas on March 9 and 16 by Emirates, Gulf and Qatar airlines.

Rambler Agencies of Dilkusha, Grand Overseas of Uttara and Mahbub International of Malibagh, Dhaka jointly arranged the tourist visas and air tickets in exchange of Tk 1.2 lakh to 1.5 lakh from each of the 36 people.

"The agents arranged lodging for them in a hotel in Amman, where they lived on water only for as long as 10 days. Later, the agents dumped them near Jordan-Iraq border," an immigration official quoted a victim as saying.

Finding no other way, the ill-fated people walked a long way up to the tomb of Abdul Quader Jilani in Baghdad. Hearing tales of their sufferings, the chief cleric of the shrine arranged Iranian visa for them and thus they ended up in Iran.

Informed by the Iranian government, the Bangladesh embassy in Tehran let the ministry for expatriates' welfare know about the stranded people. The ministry then arranged for the air tickets with money from Wage Earners' Welfare Fund to bring them back, ministry sources said.

These 36 Bangladeshis were sent to Jordan without permission from the government, the sources added.