Business Desk :
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday signed an agreement with Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to launch a five-year project on capacity building and awareness-raising to combat human trafficking in Bangladesh.
The IOM will partner with the Ministry of Home Affairs to implement this project, according to a statement issued by the IOM. The agreement was signed at the IOM office in the city by Giorgi Gigauri, IOM Representative and Coordinator of Bangladesh UN Network on Migration, and Doh Youngah, Country Director of the KOICA, Bangladesh.
According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), 700,000 migrants left Bangladesh in 2019. Migrants that travel through irregular channels risk exploitation and abuse at the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
Globally there were an estimated 40.3 million victims of modern-day slavery, and the highest prevalence of forced labour is in Asia and the Pacific. While verified data on the number of victims is not officially available, there are approximately 4,700 cases of alleged human trafficking awaiting prosecution in Bangladesh. The project, known as KOICA-IOM Comprehensive Programme to Combat Human Trafficking in Bangladesh, will aim to build the capacity of the national criminal justice system to prosecute traffickers, provide sustainable reintegration support to victims of trafficking and sensitise up to one million people to the risks of trafficking and the importance of safe migration in trafficking-prone areas all over the country including Dhaka, Jashore, Satkhira and Cox’s Bazar.
Giorgi Gigauri said: ‘Human trafficking is a global phenomenon and a growing concern for Bangladesh. Vulnerable Bangladeshi children, women and men become victims of human traffickers for different reasons, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, transactional marriage, child labor exploitation and organ trade.
