Lured by middlemen of emigration to Italy and Spain, the fortune-seekers had sold their properties and borrowed money at high interest, but all their hopes have shattered.

Most of the youths, who were university graduates or at least passed SSC, were flown from Dhaka to Mali on tourist visa between the last quarter of 2003 and early 2005, a few of them told The Daily Star yesterday.

In Mali, the middlemen forced them to stay at a dark house for at least seven months to evade arrest.

One night they were boarded on pickup vans for a journey across the Sahara to Morocco from where they were scheduled to sneak into Italy or Spain.

"We [the 48 Bangladeshis] were on three vans during the 15-day journey and suffered a lot as we carried very small amount of food and money," said Qaiyum Sikder of Manikganj.

As soon as the vans reached the Morocco border, the border security attacked them forcing the drivers to go back. "After driving around 25km backward, the drivers abandoned us in the desert," he said.

The hapless Bangladeshi youths looking for shelters in the vast desert finally discovered some sort of tents used by the rebels of Mali.

"We were not allowed to go out of the tents during day time. I cannot even remember if we ever saw the sun during the ten-month stay in the Sahara," Qaiyum said.

"We would work for the rebels like fetching water and carrying loads in exchange of a few pieces of bread. Extreme heat during the day and chill at night were also unbearable for us. We were afraid we would not live that way and see our relatives again," said Ariful Islam of Keraniganj.

Many people of different South Asian and African countries died in the desert of malaria and other diseases. "We heard that two Bangladeshis of another group also died," he said.

After about 10 months, a UN official of the Sub-Saharan region named Captain Mahmud learnt about these Bangladeshis and went to inquire about them.

Mahmud and later another official contacted the International Organisation for Migration in Geneva, which later contacted the Bangladesh government.

"We are grateful to them and urge all Bangladeshis not to get trapped like us," said Ariful who thinks there is a big international network of the racketeers with secret branches in every country of the world.

"Whichever airport we went, the immigration officials would look at us and smile mildly. Some police in Morocco and Mali may also be involved in the business," Ariful said.

When contacted, a Zia International Airport Immigration Police official said they could not do anything unless the returnees file cases.