US pledges support to BD in combating trafficking

FE REPORT

The United States is committed to working with Bangladesh in combating human trafficking through implementation of the National Plan of Action (NPA), said the USAID Bangladesh Mission Director Derrick Brown.

The US government's assistance in this regard includes providing training for improved investigations that lead to strong prosecutions and speedy convictions, he added.

Mr Brown was addressing the closing ceremony of training on anti-trafficking organised by the USAID in the city, says a US embassy media release.

He noted more traffickers behind bars will give hope to vulnerable groups at risk of being trafficked and send a strong signal to would-be traffickers that they will be found and punished.

The United States, through the USAID Bangladesh's Counter Trafficking in Persons (BC/TIP) programme, partnered with the Forensic Training Institute (FTI) of the Bangladesh Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to sponsor a five-day anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) investigation skills training.

In collaboration with the FTI, the BC/TIP programme developed a training curriculum on best practices for handling and investigating TIP cases and assisting trafficking victims in filing cases against perpetrators.

The training, held from October 27 to October 31, was the third anti-human trafficking investigation course since August this year, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on Saturday.

Twenty-three police officers from 20 trafficking-prone districts actively participated in the classroom and scenario-based training held at the FTI in Dhaka and conducted by the BC/TIP programme, which is funded by USAID and implemented by Winrock International, a US non-governmental organisation.