UNB, Dhaka :
State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday said the government is working to identify the rackets involved in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals to Thailand,
“Law enforcement agencies have been directed to identify the people involved in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals to Thailand, and they’ ve started working in this regard. Stern legal actions will be taken against the human traffickers after identifying them immediately,” he told UNB over phone.
Thirty-three bodies, believed to be migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, were recovered in shallow graves past week at a human-trafficking camp in southern Thailand, according to media reports. Besides, the Thai authorities on Saturday questioned more than 100 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar discovered in Thailand’s south to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking, as Thailand races to meet a deadline to uncover people smuggling camps within its borders.
The 117 migrants were found in Rattaphum district in Songkhla province, near the Malaysian border and most of them were from Bangladesh.
Against this backdrop, Asaduzzaman Khan said they will be able to quickly identify the human traffickers and bring them to justice for their nefarious acts.
The junior minister mister said they have already identified some human traffickers in border areas and caught some of them red-handed. He also said some gangs from Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar are jointly carrying out the human trafficking activities in the border areas.
Replaying to a question whether they discus with the governments of Myanmar and Thailand over the matter, the state minister said they are in close touch with the authorities of the two countries to check human trafficking. “We’ve a plan to hold bilateral talks with the governments of the two countries to stop it.” “We’ll also look for an effective solution to this problem by convening a meeting of the cabinet committee on stopping human trafficking. Moreover, BGB, Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies are now very active to contain human trafficking in border areas.” he added.
