Pvt Hajj operators suffer blow over human trafficking claim

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Jubair Hasan The local Hajj and travel agency business has suffered a big blow following the allegation of human trafficking brought by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), sources said. The government of Bangladesh has so far cancelled licences of 30 operators and blacklisted 95 others for their involvement in the human trafficking, high-ups of the ministry of religion (MoR) said. Intelligence agencies' vigilance on the remaining operators and even the newcomers has also been intensified to make sure no such incident takes place any more in future, they said. The government has taken the punitive measures as the KSA allegation in this connection has been found true. The KSA brought the allegation that some of the Hajj and travel agencies of Bangladesh were involved in unethical practices like human trafficking in the name of Hajj performance. "Yes, we've called off operations of 30 Hajj and travel service providers here on the allegation of human trafficking for the last four years after a close watch," State Minister for MoR Advocate Shahjahan Miah said. He said criminal cases were also filed against the firms over their involvement in the unethical practices under the human trafficking act and the Immigration Act 1983. The minister said the Saudi government and Bangladesh blacklisted 95 Hajj and tour service providers last year over the allegation. At that time 350 such companies were in operation in the country. Talking to the FE, a senior official of the ministry said intelligence agencies had been instructed to closely monitor operations of other players now in the field. The ministry official was talking on the condition of anonymity. The ministry allowed 831 new companies in the business in the current year with the security money of Tk 2.0 million collected from each of them, taking the total number of such companies to 1,153, he said. "The fresh licences were issued only to end the monopoly in the business by giving the common people more valid options to choose," he added. Players in the business appreciated the government's move as the unethical practices were turning the country's image overseas, leaving the operators to face tougher regulations in the KSA. Bangladesh Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) President Mohammad Ibrahim Bahar admitted that some unscrupulous private agents were involves in human trafficking. "It's getting difficult to stay in the business because of the tougher regulations slapped by the KSA government in the face of the irregularities," the HAAB president said. He was also critical of the government's latest move to issue licences on a wholesale scale, as it could create further trouble for the agencies concerned to monitor activities of such a big number of players in the field. He said the government financially penalised some of the blacklisted agents and few of them were suspended for one year. Another Hajj agency operator said the security money of Tk 2.0 million taken by the government against each licence could probably not be enough as there is still a possibility of cheating if anyone manages to book at least 20 clients (each Hajj pilgrim is usually charged Tk 0.3 million). "So, I think the guarantee money needs to be much higher than the current one for the wellbeing of the sector," he said. About 86,000 Muslims from the country can perform Hajj through the private operators, he added. As per the KSA-Bangladesh bilateral Hajj agreement, maximum 127,198 Bangladeshis will get the opportunity to perform the upcoming Hajj.