Md. Sazedul Islam :
A team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained a man after raiding a residential hotel at Gulistan in the capital in October last year on charge of his involvement in child trafficking. RAB sources, according to media reports, said the man had trafficked five children to a Middle Eastern county. He had gone to Oman six times in the past when he trafficked the five children to that country. He utilized women to traffic the children. The women introduced the children as theirs. The man used to wait in Oman and then sold the children to various agents in exchange of a huge amount of money.
The story, mentioned above, is not an isolated one. Child trafficking has become a national problem in our country. There is no accurate data available as how many children have been trafficked. Child trafficking goes on and most of the victims are girl children mainly from poor families.
There is both national and international human trafficking in Bangladesh though in recent years the country has turned out to be a country of both transit and destination for international human trafficking.
Human trafficking is clandestine and organized. A complex process is carried out by international organized chain of criminals in this regard. The trafficking is a crime against humanity which is a crude form of trade taking human beings. This aims to earn profit through sexual slavery, forced labour, debt bondage and organ sale. It snatches personal liberty and undermines personal safety and dignity along with physical and mental freedom.
The issue of trafficking is integrally linked to insecurity of livelihood as well as continuing disparities and discrimination against marginalized communities generally, and against women and children in particular.
Marginalized and migrating populations, living nearby or far from the borders are exposed to the risk of trafficking. In the border areas, as there is a history and tradition of cross-border mobility and as there is a kind of tolerance prevailing among the border communities for irregular mobility-high prevalence of both trafficking and traffickers is found among these communities.
Child labour, child marriage, dowry, domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence and discriminations push the children into a high-risk category for trafficking.
Many trafficked persons are lured and deceived by false promises of good jobs or marriage, while some are bought, abducted, coerced, threatened with force or used as debt bondage. Some of the women and children are trafficked with the tacit consent of their poverty-stricken families. The traffickers engage and enslave them in such crude sectors as sexual exploitation, forced labour or in the brickfields, which demands hard labour.
We need to raise awareness among the children, their parents and community members regarding the causes, consequences, legal provisions, sources of assistance of child trafficking along with the need of removal of this social stigma to facilitate mainstreaming the survivors and preventing push for trafficking and re-trafficking.
Bangladesh government has taken up initiative to combat human trafficking as one of its priorities since trafficking has posed a threat to our national interest. Government also has given priority to its prevention and rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking.
Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act- 2012 has been enacted. The Act stipulated for maximum punishment for committing the crime of trafficking. In the Act, there is a provision of capital punishment/death sentence for the well-organized trafficking while life term in other matters.
Along with the punishment, the Act also called for providing protection to the victims, making efforts for tracing the victims, rescue and rehabilitation of the victims, establishing shelter centres for the victims, providing compensation to the victims, maintaining privacy and dignity of the victims, taking steps for prevention of re-trafficking, and ensuring the rights to know about the matters.
Apart from the Act, the government has also enacted National Plan of Action (NPA) 2015-2017 for combating human trafficking. Ministry of Home Affairs is mainly responsible for implementing the NPA, but the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Women and Children Affairs, Social Welfare, other government organizations, national and international NGOs and UN agencies are also involved in implementing the NPA.
The NPA is aimed at ensuring justice to the victims, taking steps for their rescue, giving physical and mental health care services, rehabilitation and their integration with family and society through a well-coordinated system under the supervision of the state. It is also aimed creating an atmosphere of coordination between the government and private organizations for effectively combating human trafficking at home and abroad.
The NPA called for increasing awareness and people’s involvement for prevention of human trafficking, trial for the traffickers, and joint partnership, participation, coordination and building an atmosphere of inter-state legal assistance. Different committees (at zila, upazila and union level) have been formed in line with the NPA and Children’s Act to address the issue of trafficking in children.
Media can play a great role in creating and increasing awareness among people regarding this. Besides, lawmakers, government officials and employees, law enforcers and community people have also to play their due roles in implementing the Act and the NPA for combating child trafficking.
Multi-sectoral programme, aimed at preventing women repression taken up under Women and Children Affairs Ministry, has launched a toll-free national helpline ‘109’. Anyone can dial the number from any telephone or any mobile operator for assistance to women and children, who become victims of repression.
Article 34 of Bangladesh Constitution called for protecting the human rights of all the citizens. Apart from SAARC Convention 2008 on Women and Child Trafficking Prevention and Deterrence, Bangladesh had ratified a number of international agreements/documents for combating human trafficking. Hence, Bangladesh is pledged-bound to take anti-trafficking steps.
It is hoped that the government with the assistance of the stakeholders and common people would be able to combat the crime by implementing the Act and the NPA in our national interest and to safeguard our children and women.
(PID-Advocacy, communication and awareness building for children & women project)
