KING ASHOKA in the 3rd Century BC abolished slave trade in his Maurya Empire, the first known dynasty of ancient India, although after about 2300 years of such abolishment people of this region are still being victimized due to the slave trade. In 1897 Thailand abolished the act of selling people into slavery, but Thai police recently rescued 134 Bangladeshi nationals, according to BBC, from a coastal forest of that country where they were treated as modern-day slaves. The rescued Bangladeshis were promised good jobs, lucrative salaries and other facilities but fatefully were abducted and transported for sale as slaves in Thailand. Desperate to earn livelihood, the nationals put their life at stake due to the internal dynamics of Bangladesh where living seems tougher than taking risks by going to work in other countries despite the government’s promises to avail jobs for every family. Dramatic falling down of manpower export, shuttering of employment opportunities due to slow investment growth and reluctance of law enforcers in battling human traffickers encourage the cool-headed killers, known as manpower exporters, to drown the frantic youths who wanted work by throwing them at the mercy of slavery. Our daily said the abducted had to eat leaves of trees for 10 days in order to survive. Beaten, abused and left with no food, these wretched men told the horrific tales of how they were abducted in the style of the 17th Century slave trade in Africa and forced to work in most hazardous conditions. These Bangladeshis recently left Cox’s Bazar by fishing boat to a remote island camp in the southern coast of Thailand. The Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand said this year alone some 700 Bangladeshi victims of human trafficking were rescued in that country.Slave traders have found a happy hunting ground in Bangladesh as people here are desperately looking for a livelihood and easily lured with the enticement of jobs abroad, and then they are kidnapped, put on wooden boats to be sent off to Thailand. Thailand is increasingly becoming infamous for human trafficking. More recently, the Thai police and military have been accused of selling Rohingyas who washed up on Thailand’s shores to human traffickers. Surprisingly, role of the law enforcing agencies at home is much questionable because of their conspicuous inactions in this regard. Meanwhile, the Thai government is resisting efforts to have all the Bangladeshis classified as victims of trafficking and are instead treating them as illegal migrants. It is the duty of the Bangladesh government to bring back the traumatized nationals from Thailand through diplomatic channels to their homes and families. It is no glory for a country to engage in sending its young people to work abroad for earning their livelihood. The government is not realising the importance of creating jobs within the country. We must have effective family planning. We cannot produce slaves to be useful in other countries.
