The government of Bangladesh does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so, says a new report released by the United States on Thursday, reports UNB.
The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Bangladesh remained in Tier 2, according to the Bangladesh chapter of the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report.
"The government of Bangladesh is making significant efforts to meet the standards for the elimination of trafficking in person," US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas said.
He said the United States will continue to partner with both the government and civil society to end trafficking.
The government’s efforts included increasing prosecutions and convictions against traffickers, increasing investigations of cases involving Rohingya victims for the first time in recent years, and taking steps to lower some fees associated with the government-run recruitment agency.
The government extended its NAP (National Action Plan) to 2025 and published its first national study on human trafficking in Bangladesh.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas, the report claimed.
Although the government increased law enforcement efforts, it did not take adequate steps to address internal sex trafficking or official complicity, both of which remained pervasive; and it did not consistently hold accountable sub-agents conducting illegal recruitment operations, it said.
Victim protection efforts remained insufficient, including shelter services and availability, and the government identified and referred to care significantly fewer victims, the report added.
The government did not uniformly employ SOPs to identify trafficking victims, including among vulnerable populations, and authorities continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling in many cases, it says.
Furthermore, courts sentenced the majority of traffickers to fines rather than jail time, which weakened deterrence, undercut the government’s overall anti-trafficking efforts, and likely created security and safety concerns for victims, according to the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report.
The 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA) criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment and a fine of not less than 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka ($476).
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
