Md Mahabub Alam :
The government has taken initiative to stop human trafficking from the country.
As part of its plan it will conduct a prove against foreign study consultancies and travel agencies to find out whether they were involved with human trafficking, sources said.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has already got a list of nearly 150 such organisations reportedly involved in human trafficking. The Special Branch of Police submitted the list recently.
Police kept watch on the activities of the organisations for five years and became confirmed about their involvement in human trafficking.
At the same time, the ministry has taken into cognizance of complaints lodged by victims and reports of the Public Resources Employment and Training Bureau.
The organisations alluring people, particularly students, sent them to different countries in exchange of huge money. They usually cheated them providing not the validity of visa which they promised with the immigrants.
Mohammad Akram Hossain, Chief Joint-Secretary of Vigilance Taskforce under Expatriate Ministry, said that they received a list of 147 foreign study consultancies and travel agencies linked to human trafficking.
A ‘combing-operation’ will be carried out against them soon, he said.
The Expatriate, the Foreign Affairs, the Civil Aviation and Tourism ministries, the Public Resources Employment and Training Bureau, the Special Branch of Police, the RAB and the officials of Health Directorate formed a taskforce to conduct the operation, he said.
Sources say, the Expatriate Ministry is expected to hold an inter-ministry meeting to confirm the safety of emigration soon. The Foreign Affairs, the Home Affairs and the Civil Aviation might participate also.
Sources say that a number of people with the assistance of the travel agencies and consultancies used to go to different countries in the name of study, tourism and visit to religious spots. After reaching, they usually started to work in mills and factories illegally, which tarnished the image of the country abroad.
On condition of anonymity, a member of the taskforce said, the immigration departments of several countries sent back about 300 people recently, who failed to answer the queries of the officers.
Actually they were trying to migrate for work, he said, adding that Malaysia, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Maldip were the main target of the immigrants.
