Human trafficking has assumed a horrific dimension as the latest reports confirm that quite a large number of the Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees have been landing in Indonesia and Malaysia. The traffickers reportedly deserted the crowded wooden boats in the open sea. What is more worrisome is a report that the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), governments of some relevant countries and international organisations are not pro-active about searching for more vessels in the Straits of Malacca to rescue the illegal workers. The latest developments do also make it clear that the influx of illegal migration is not limited to the Thai forests alone; it has spread out to the Straits of Malacca. International agencies like the UNHCR and the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) must act immediately in stemming the flow of migration to South East Asia. Powerful trafficking syndicates in Thailand and Malaysia are reportedly involved in this inhuman trade as illegal migrants could reach coasts of these two countries without facing hurdles. Detention of some Thai politicians and police officials for their suspected involvement in trafficking lends credence to this.
Now it is certain that most illegal migrants without passports, allegedly to be the Bangladeshis and the Rohingyas, might have chosen the risky sea routes in the turbulent Bay of Bengal to go to Malaysia through Thai forests and using the Straits of Malacca. It is not understandable how they could evade the watchful eyes of the Coast Guards, the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) and other security forces in Cox's Bazar and other coastal areas and go on journeys only to meet disasters.
Human traffickers, fattened by good money given by the ill-fated unemployed Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, not only cheated them but also made good their escape by killing many of them and burying their bodies in mass graves in the Thai jungles. Vigilance along the not-too-long coastline of Bangladesh must be stepped up, with intelligence personnel arresting the local traffickers as the agents of human traffickers remain quite active in the country's south-eastern region. Such groups of agents are seemingly armed as well; three of them were killed in reported gunfight with the law-enforcers last week. It is now urgent for Bangladesh to hold talks innediately with Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia to bust the regional trafficking syndicates operating in this inhuman trade.
As most of the refugees reached the Thai jungles with the help of regional gangs of traffickers, it is apparent that the latter have found coastal routes for their easy and safe journey. Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia should be persuaded to intensify patrols in similar fashion as such an exodus of refugees also poses a serious threat to all of them. All-out steps to arrest the illegal migration in this part of the world brook no delay. Furthermore, massive mass awareness programmes in the coastal districts of Bangladesh need to be carried out so that people are no more deceived by traffickers.
Curbing illegal migration
FE Team | Published: May 16, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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