UNB, Cox’s Bazar :
The 37 Bangladeshi human trafficking victims identified among those rescued by Myanmar authorities on May 22 are likely to return home on Friday. A flag meeting will be held between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) along the Ghundum border point in Naikhyongchari upazila of Bandarban district on
Friday morning, said commanding officer of BGB battalion-17 Lt Col Saiful Alam Khandaker.
The Bangladeshi trafficking victims will be brought back home through the Ghundum border following the flag meeting, he said, adding that their return may be deferred if the meeting is not held. On May 21, Myanmar rescued two boats carrying over 200 people in its water territories with its officials claiming all of them to be from Bangladesh.
However, BGB members identified 37 of them as Bangladeshis. With the latest ones, 187 human trafficking victims have so far been identified as Bangladeshis. Completing the necessary repatriation process, some 150 Bangladeshi trafficking victims were brought back home from Myanmar after a flag meeting between the border forces of the two countries on June 8. The entire process was overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with close coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police and BGB authorities and the local district administration.
