Speakers at a meeting on Tuesday stressed the need for tougher policies to fight human trafficking. The speakers also stressed the need for concerted efforts to raise awareness on modern slavery, generating from human trafficking from country to country and also to take effective action plan to stamp it out. Terming the human trafficking as a crime, they said it puts migrant workers at risk in terms of physical and mental abuse, harassment, forced labor, forced and illegal marriages, illegal trade and most importantly losing lives, so this is high time to make a combined effort to get it controlled.
The remarks were made at the opening ceremony of a debate competition titled, ‘I stand against human trafficking’, held at Dhaka University Business Faculty Auditorium, marking the World Day Against Trafficking in Person 2019. International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Dhaka University Debating Society (DUDS) organized the debate competition with the support of the European Union, the U.S. Government and the Embassy of Sweden to create better awareness among the students regarding human trafficking.
The event also brought together policymakers, students, academics, media representatives, development partners, international organizations, and private sectors to highlight the important concepts around human trafficking, migration and its impact. While addressing, Asma Khatun, Head of Migrant Protection and Assistance of IOM Bangladesh stressed that with globalization in its full force- the mobility of people has increased many folds with 1 billion people on the move worldwide now.
She said an estimated 12 million Bangladeshis are currently employed overseas. Bangladeshis migrate in huge numbers for a variety of economic, social and environmental reasons. In 2018 an estimated 8.9 million Bangladeshis migrated internally and an approximately 730,000 left the country through regular channels to work abroad. But according to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2019.
Dr MM Akash, Professor of Economics, Dhaka University said, “As we don’t have enough job opportunities in Bangladesh, so people, especially young people, tend to go abroad through the irregular process.” “Those we are trafficked are generally poor,” he said adding, “Trafficking situation is alarming now. We need to reduce our poverty and empower our youths to access more job opportunities. Furthermore, we have to aware of the aspirant migrants so that they can seek informed migration. Most importantly, we should have a multi-country policy framework to stop trafficking”.
Dr Nakib Md Nasrullah, Professor of Law, University of Dhaka, said, “Trafficking is a transnational crime. The existing laws are good enough to prevent trafficking. But we need to implement the laws strictly to bring the traffickers under custody. And, raising awareness is the key issue where we should give intensive emphasis.”
The Government of Bangladesh has taken many steps to counter-trafficking such as formulating policies, strengthening task forces, GO-NGO National Coordination Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, Committee to Monitor the National Plan of Action for Combating Human Trafficking 2018-2022, the Rescue, Recovery, Repatriation and Integration (RRRI) Task Force, Vigilance Task Force, formulation of Counter-Trafficking Committees (CTC) in district, sub-district and at union level.
Addressing the issue, Sharon Dimanche, Deputy Chief of Mission- IOM Bangladesh, said, “Due to unemployment problem and economic inequality existing in the country, a trafficked person doesn’t take much time to calculate their future financial gains and swallow the offer of the traffickers". He said that the victims are either abducted or lured with promises of a better life by providing a lucrative job or marriage offers and false proposals to visit holy places. All stakeholders must join hands and work together to combat human trafficking.
Recently, UN Agencies in Bangladesh have established a national Migration Network to ensure coordinated UN Country Team-wide support to the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in implementing the Global Compact on Migration and other relevant policies. Under the Network, a Counter-Trafficking Technical Working Group, comprising of UN agencies and CSOs, has been launched in the event to support interagency coordination on human trafficking. After the opening session, 16 debating clubs of Dhaka University joined the debate competition. Additional secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs disturbed the prizes among the winners of the competition at the closing ceremony of the event in the afternoon.