There will be a series of actions against human trafficking in Bangladesh, as the country's government has decided to ratify the Palermo Protocol, a top official said on Sunday.
"The government of Bangladesh has decided to ratify. The instrument of ratification has been sent to Palermo Declaration," Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said at a workshop.
"And, I think this is a big step towards addressing human trafficking in Bangladesh. You will see a series of actions will be initiated by various ministries," he added.
Mr Haque told this to the participants at a national consultative workshop titled "Comprehensive responses to trafficking in persons" held at a hotel in the capital on Sunday.
The Palermo Protocol was adopted by the United Nations (UN) to supplement the 2000 Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) arranged the workshop in collaboration with the governments of Bangladesh and the United States (US).
The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations (UN) in Bangladesh Mia Seppo, Chief of IOM Bangladesh Giorgi Gigauri, Bangladesh's Ministry of Home Affairs' Additional Secretary Abu Bakr Siddique, and Political/Economic Counsellor at the US Embassy in Dhaka Brent Christensen spoke at the workshop, among others.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque also said the mode of trafficking is changing rapidly, and there is a huge gap between actions and trafficking business.
"Trafficking should be brought under the umbrella of migration, you can't talk about migration, unless you talk about trafficking," he said.
Giorgi Gigauri said lack of job opportunities, poor awareness about safe migration and high costs of migration are some of the pull factors behind irregular migration.
Brent Christensen said the US government considers trafficking in person as a serious crime.
"We believe Bangladesh has a constructive action plan to prevent human trafficking," he said.
Mia Seppo said the main challenges in tackling the human trafficking revolve around coordination, capacity, resources and data.
"The efforts to prevent trafficking in persons require creative and coordinated responses," she said.
According to the concept note of the function, the Rohingya people, in addition to Bangladeshi nationals, are also falling prey to traffickers and smugglers who are exploiting victims' vulnerable situation.
The total number of victims of trafficking detected until June 2019 in Cox's Bazar is 420, the concept note added.
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