Syed Shemul Parvez :
Human trafficking ring have become active again across the country. According to detective’s sources, there are 470 traffickers and brokers involved with human trafficking syndicates in the country.
Detectives have found 94 traffickers in 9 districts of Dhaka division. Many public representatives as well as several women members are also involved with the syndicate. In the meantime, the list of smugglers has been sent to Immigration and Interpol, said law enforcement agencies.
However, the immigration expert says that the situation is alarming as well as an ominous sign if the masterminds are not arrested.
Victims hope to change the story of their life facing various difficult paths, deception, torture, grief, ransom and living horror. The dream of change of fortune is woven around people by the traffickers’ traditional impenetrable web of conspiracy, which innocent people are unable to understand.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Global Report on Human Trafficking, citizens of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are being trafficked to at least 40 countries. And 40 percent of those trafficked from Bangladesh to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Bahrain are women and 15 percent are children.
In such a situation, law enforcement officials say that about 470 smugglers and brokers are active in a powerful smuggling syndicate spreading across the country. Out of which 94 smugglers are in 9 districts of Dhaka division. In this list there are also public representatives and several women members.
Moshiur Rahman, Deputy Police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Intelligence Police, said, “We have given the information of those smugglers to the airport, so that they are really caught.” Our problem is that there is no police representative in any embassy abroad, except in India.
Bangladesh is on the Tier-2 watch list in the Human Trafficking Report of the US State Department. Which means, Bangladesh has not yet achieved the minimum standard of human trafficking.
BRAC Migration Programme head Shariful Hasan said that this situation is alarming. Actually we are lagging behind in bringing to justice those who are involved in criminal trafficking, especially those who are big criminal.
Besides, a large part of the cases were not tried yet. He complains that whenever a sensational incident happens, there is only a few days of hype and gossip. Influential part has always remained out of touch, Shariful added.
However, a law enforcement officer said that their list has already been sent to the Home Ministry, Police Headquarters, Immigration and Interpol to catch the top smugglers.
On Friday, RAB rescued 58 people while trying to go to Malaysia illegally by trawlers. At the time two members of the human trafficking ring involved in the trafficking were also arrested. The trawler used for smuggling was seized.
