Human trafficking is an affront to any decent society with an iota of self-respect and moral standing. It is unquestionably a crime against humanity and is especially embarrassing to a nation that claims to be marching forward on the highway to development and committed to fulfilling the basic needs of its citizens. It is a sad truth that human trafficking results from grinding poverty and social repression that leave no option for the hapless victims except walking into the trap set by the traffickers.
The scale of human trafficking in Bangladesh is both horrific and alarming. UNICEF estimates that about 400 women and children fall victim to this scandalous crime every month. This is further underscored by a study revealing that approximately 300,000 Bangladeshi children and women between the ages of 12 and 30 were trafficked to India in the last decade. The trafficked women end up in brothels, or are used for the making pornographic films. Children, with even less knowledge of the world suffer similarly. Besides, in their desperation to find jobs, a large number of youths also fall prey to the human traffickers. There's no shortage of traffickers' agents to lure and misguide them. Small wonder that many victims die on their voyage through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Bangladesh has become a fertile ground for the exploitation of vulnerable poor people.
In 2012, the government enacted the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act to combat human trafficking. In it there's a provision for the death penalty to discourage the practice. It was hoped that the tough law would be sufficient to eliminate the problem, but in practice it did not. The 2023 US Trafficking in Persons Report acknowledged Bangladesh's ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking and identified deficiencies in key areas including the capacity of anti-trafficking tribunals, legal measures, and law enforcement involvement. The media is awash with reports that over 3,000 human trafficking cases are currently awaiting trial in Bangladesh, with heaps of lawsuits gathering dust for years. Moreover, even though there are human trafficking cases galore, the rate of conviction in these cases is extremely low (about 1.5 per cent).
It is alleged that corrupt investigating officers take bribes from both the victims and the accused, deliberately delay investigations, and ultimately help members of powerful trafficking rings to escape punishment. This disgraceful disregard for the rule of law has virtually rendered the laws against human trafficking toothless.
A National Referral Mechanism (NRM) framework has recently been launched to protect and assist victims of human trafficking. This framework involves a multi-disciplinary group of government and non-governmental actors. According to its statement, the NRM is a multi-disciplinary system with protocols and guidelines to ensure effiective help for victims. The government, led by the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, will manage the NRM, while Switzerland supports the development of the framework through a project called Ashshash.
The key objective of the NRM is to identify the victims of trafficking and modern-day slavery and provide them with necessary support for their social and economic reintegration and empowerment. Several NGOs have also been working in this area, but they are not in a position to meet the challenge of catering to such a large number of women and children. Unfortunately, they don't have any place in the social welfare schemes. There are budgetary allocations for the under-privileged, but in practice, they are seldom benefited. Effective functioning of the NRM framework could go a long way towards protecting the rights of these ill-fated victims of human trafficking.
To effectively combat human trafficking, there is a need for addressing the root causes of trafficking, raising public awareness and prosecuting trafficking offenses. Here the law enforcement agencies need to work with sincere commitment to bring the human traffickers to justice. The government must speed up its efforts if it does not want Bangladesh to be branded as a nation totally insensitive to human rights.
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