Algerian police rescued 16 Bangladeshis stranded on a boat in the Mediterranean who were attempting to enter Spain illegally in the third week of February. One of the 16 died after they were rushed to the Algerian hospital, while 10 others had earlier died of starvation on the boat.

But following widespread national and international media coverage on the issue, an inter-ministerial meeting with foreign, home, civil aviation and expatriates' welfare ministries was held to discuss the matter.

The government, besides announcing a number of actions to arrest illegal travel agencies and regulate them more strictly, applied to the International Organisation for Migration, Dhaka office for financial aid to repatriate the 15 Bangladeshis from Algeria.

"Having no response from the organisation nor any other government ministry on the financial issue, the Wage Earners' Fund Management Committee of the expatriates' ministry has finally decided to allocate money for this purpose following the request of the foreign ministry," State Minister Major (Rtd) Mohammed Quamrul Islam said yesterday.

The ministry has already informed the Bangladesh High Commission in Egypt of the expenses and asked that all arrangements be made for returning the migrants, he told The Daily Star.

The Wage Earners' Welfare Fund, which requires a contribution of 300 taka from all legal migrants, was established in 1990 to benefit migrants and their families by dispensing pre-departure information and legal aid as well as assistance in times of illness or death.

The migrants in Algeria, however, chose to migrate illegally and therefore do not fall under the normal jurisdiction of the fund.

"But this is an exception, not an example, and no one should take this opportunity, because at the moment we are using this fund and considering this a humanitarian issue," Islam added.

Complex legal procedures may further delay the migrants' return, the state minister noted.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is technically responsible for the matter, since travel agencies fall under its jurisdiction, but as the ministry has no fund allocated for such incidents, the expatriates' ministry has stepped in, Major (Rtd) Quamrul Islam said.

The minister added that measures might be taken to repay the funds if legal migrants, who own the wage earners' fund, question its use for aiding illegal migrants. "We might ask the civil aviation ministry to refund the money that is to be paid by the expatriate ministry or think of other measures," the state minister said.