Arif was a student of accounting at Dhaka College in 2003. He once harboured a dream of becoming a chartered accountant, but he had his dream shattered after losing a huge amount of money to 'modern slave traders' who promised him legal migration to Spain.

Arif, now 25, along with 47 others had to return home empty-handed on January 19 after spending three years in the hot Sahara region.

His ordeals began when he tried to go to Spain for a better future.

Persuaded by a friend, Arif visited a travel agent at Motijheel in January 2003 who assured him of arranging a direct travel to Spain, saying that "Once you go to Spain, you need not think of your future any longer."

Karim (not his real name), the travel agent, then demanded a total of Tk 8 lakh -- Tk 2 lakh in advance and the remaining can be paid after his arriving in Spain.

Arif paid the advance money, but two months later, the travel agent demanded Tk 1.5 lakh more for air ticket. A few days later, Karim told Arif that he has to fly to Morocco first from where Spain is only 15 minutes away by speedboat.

But the ticket Karim handed over to Arif was of Mali. "Spain is only an hour away from Mali," Arif quoted the agent as saying. Karim again charged him Tk 1.5 lakh, saying that it is an easier route.

After all the preparations, Arif began his travel taking Dhaka-Dubai-Casablanca-Mali route and reached Mali airport after three days, but he did not have to go through any visa checking.

"Later, I realised that the visa was fake and the human smugglers have very close links with the immigration authorities in Mali and many other countries," Arif told The Daily Star.

Arif was then taken to a three-room flat where about 70 Bangladeshi youths have already been staying. A few days later, some were sent to Spain as their agents paid the Malian agent, Mostafa, a good amount, Arif said.

"But when I asked Mostafa about my case, he said my agent in Dhaka did not pay him off. Then I contacted my brother in Dhaka who paid Tk 3.5 lakh to another agent Sohel (not his real name) as Karim told my brother that Sohel has better relationship with Mostafa."

But nothing worked for him. It also could not be known whether Sohel sent the money to Mostafa. "We were literally hostage to the whims of international syndicate of human smugglers," Arif said.

One and a half years in Mali

During their stay in Mali, the 70 Bangladeshi youths were treated inhumanly. Mostafa kept all their passports in his possession so that they could not escape.

They were given only 1.5 kilograms of beef and some vegetables every day, far short of their needs. The foodstuffs can meet the demand of only 20 people. Many had to subsist only on water for a few days at a stretch as they failed to give money to Mostafa, says Arif.

"Mostafa extorted money from us in any way possible. He forced us to contact our relatives living in Europe and ask for money. Then he used his passport to collect the money through Western Union."

Arif said his brother from Italy sent 100 Euro a month using Mostafa's passport. Those who did not have close relatives in Europe were asked to contact distant relatives. Otherwise, they had to go without food.

Mostafa's men also prevented other flat members who were able to pay from sharing their meals with those starving, he added.

He got a few chances to go to markets with Mostafa's men, Arif said, adding that he met at least 10 Bangladeshis outside who also lived like them in several flats in the West African state.

Arif said he thinks that about 1500 Bangladeshis were staying illegally in that country where many people are engaged in racketeering, smuggling and human trafficking in connivance with the police administration.

Following repeated appeals by the victims, Mostafa came up with a suggestion -- they either can return home or go to Spain by paying Tk 1.5 lakh more. "We chose the second option as we thought returning home after spending a huge amount will be a disaster for us," Arif said. Forty-six of them then managed to pay with the help from their relatives.

Real tragedy begins
The journey towards the dreamland began on March 15 in 2005 as three pick-up vans carrying the 46 youths made their way through a vast desert with 40 degree Celsius during day and 2 degrees during night.

After crossing more than 8,000 km sandy and rocky path in 14 days, the vehicles escorted by four armed Malian members of the smugglers' gang pulled up at a place 500 km away from the Moroccan border.

"The seats were water drums on the vans that ran at a 90 km speed. After one and a half days' race, we had some time to cook and eat. After seven days the food supplies were running short. So, we ate very little and once a day. But we were hard hit by acute water shortage," Arif recalled the horrific journey.

After the vehicles pulled up, the four gang members handed over the exhausted youths to six Moroccan gang members fully covered with black clothes who then drove them to the border (about 150 feet high). "Blood came out of noses of many of us due to hot, dry desert winds," Arif says.

The smugglers handed over the youths to two Moroccan border guards, who were supposed to take them to Spain. "As the guards drove us about 20 km into Morocco at dead of night, a message came over their walkie-talkies, prompting them to sped away, leaving behind all of us on the road," he says, "and we were arrested by Moroccan army".

"We urged the army men to hand us over to the police, but they refused to do so and fired several blank shots, forcing us to run away with only three cans of water," Arif went on. "This was the most terrifying time. With no food and water, we went crazy.

Some of us even tried to drink their urine."

After three days of wandering in the wilderness, the group met a Saharan man riding a camel. "When we told him about our plight, he took all of us -- two by two in turn -- to a tent, 10 kilometres away from there. He also gave us some food and took us to a camp of rebels in the desert," Arif said. The rebels had been fighting for separation from Morocco.

With the help of camel rider Salama, they started living in a house made of baked mud and tin. During their ten-month stay there, they used to break stones, make bricks and clean camps, Arif added. In the meantime, two more Bangladeshis joined the group.

Fortunately, a Bangladeshi peacekeeper, Major Abdur Razzak, who had been posted at a UN camp just 25 km away from their house came to know about the group and visited them.

He then contacted Major Mamun, another Bangladeshi peacekeeper, who, in turn, communicated with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Geneva, which helped them to return home.