Fifty Bangladeshi nationals, including 44 men and 6 women, returned home from India on Sunday night after completing their prison sentences. They were handed over by India’s Petrapole Immigration Police to Benapole Immigration Police around 10 p.m. The returnees are residents of several districts including Jessore, Narail, Jhenaidah, Satkhira, Brahmanbaria, Dhaka, Tangail, Chandpur, and Madaripur.

According to one of the returnees, they had crossed into Tamil Nadu, India, in 2018 through brokers seeking better livelihoods and worked in garment factories, households, and brickfields before being detained by Indian police. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to seven years for illegal entry. After completing their sentences, a human rights organization in India sheltered them until their repatriation was arranged through coordination between the Bangladeshi and Indian embassies and with special travel permits issued by the Indian government.

Benapole Immigration Police completed formalities before transferring the group to Benapole Port Police Station. Human rights groups Justice and Care and Rights Jessore received 25 returnees each and will assist them before reuniting them with their families.