A group of 172 Bangladeshi nationals were repatriated from Libya’s Misrata city and were expected to arrive in Dhaka early on Thursday, the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya said.

The embassy said the repatriation was carried out with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Misrata is a city on Libya’s north-western coast. The returnees were due to land in Dhaka at about 6am on Buraq Air flight UZ222, according to the embassy.

The embassy said the group is returning voluntarily from risky and dangerous conditions. Eighteen of them are physically ill, it said. It did not say what conditions they faced, how long they had been in Libya, or whether any had been detained.

Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Libya, Major General Md Habibullah, met the returnees in Misrata and spoke at a pre-departure briefing, the embassy said. He warned them of the physical, mental, financial, family and social harm that irregular migration can cause. He said the embassy is working tirelessly to bring distressed Bangladeshis home safely.

The ambassador urged the returnees to start a new life with confidence and to use legal channels if they go abroad again. He also called on them to beware of human traffickers and brokers, help the authorities take legal action against such networks, and help raise public awareness of the consequences of irregular migration so that others do not suffer the same hardship.

The embassy said the returnees thanked it and the IOM for arranging their safe return. They said they intend to start afresh and hope to become entrepreneurs and support their families and the country’s economy through respectable work.

The embassy said it has been working to ensure the safe and humane repatriation of distressed Bangladeshis in Libya, including those in detention, who want to return. It said it remains in regular contact with Libyan authorities and the IOM to speed the return of Bangladeshis and other migrants held at the Ganfuda detention centre in Benghazi and the Tajura detention centre in Tripoli.