The US has expressed concerns over ‘modern-day slavery’ in Bangladesh as it ranked as ‘tier-2’ country in its ‘Trafficking in Persons’ report.
The ranking means Bangladesh does not “fully meet” the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making “significant efforts” to do so, the report released on Friday said. It is a diplomatic tool of the US government to engage foreign governments on human trafficking, the report said adding it enjoys the Congress’ mandate. It ranks countries in its four-tier ranking system.
US Secretary of State John Kerry in his foreword reminded everyone’s responsibility to make “this horrific and all-too-common crime a lot less common”.
He said this year’s report offers a guide to the road ahead as “we confront the scourge of trafficking”. “Whether a concerned citizen, a board member, a government official, or a survivor of trafficking, we each have a responsibility to spot human trafficking, engage our communities, and commit to take action,” he said.
The report said Bangladesh authorities investigated and prosecuted more cases under the 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA), but could convict only a small number of traffickers.
“While the government implemented stricter criteria in granting licenses to recruitment agents, it continued to allow extremely high and legal recruitment fees,” it said.
Tier- 1 is the highest ranking that the US puts itself in with many other western countries, which however, does not mean that a country has no human trafficking problem. Bangladesh is primarily a source, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for women and children are subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking, it said.
Some of the Bangladeshi men and women who migrate to the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Sudan, Mauritius, the United States, and Europe for work subsequently face conditions of forced labour, the report said.
Before their departure, many migrant workers incur debt to pay high recruitment fees, imposed legally by recruitment agencies belonging to the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) and illegally by unlicensed sub-agents.
The Rohingya community in Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to human trafficking, it said adding within the country, some Bangladeshi children and adults are subjected to sex trafficking. Some street children are coerced into criminality or forced to beg.
The report acknowledged that the government has prosecuted and investigated more cases under the 2012 law, PSHTA, but said such “limited efforts” to protect victims and prevent trafficking was not enough.
The alleged complicity of some Bangladeshi police officers in human trafficking remained a problem, the report said. Bangladesh passed Anti-Trafficking Law in 2012, PSHTA, which generally prohibits and punishes all forms of human trafficking.
The penalties for labour trafficking offenses are five to 12 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than the equivalent of approximately $600, and penalties for sex trafficking offenses range from five years’ imprisonment to the death sentence. “These penalties are sufficiently stringent, and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape”, the report said adding the government made “limited efforts” to protect victims of trafficking.
The police registered 377 cases involving individual or groups of victims in 2013 as against 602 in 2012. Bangladeshi officials collaborated with Indian authorities on the repatriation of Bangladeshi children trafficked through a shared standard operating procedure.
The government continued to operate shelters in its embassy in Riyadh and consulate in Jeddah for female Bangladeshi workers fleeing abusive employers. But the diplomatic corps lacked the resources in destination countries to adequately assist Bangladeshi labour trafficking victims, the report said adding the government made “limited efforts” to prevent trafficking in 2013, it stated.
Authorities cancelled licenses for four recruitment agencies in 2013 for labour trafficking, compared to 65 agencies for engaging in a variety of illegal practices in the previous reporting period. It said the government did not demonstrate efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex and also pointed that Bangladesh is not a party to the 2000 UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol.
The report recommended the government to finalise, adopt, and disseminate the implementing rules for the 2012 law, PSHTA, and train stakeholders including government officials for its implementation. It also asked for steps to sharply reduce all recruitment fees charged by licensed labour recruiters, and enforce violations with criminal sanctions.
The report also recommended intensifying efforts to prosecute trafficking cases and convict trafficking offenders, particularly labour trafficking offenders, while strictly respecting due process. It also called upon the government to expand the support services available to trafficking victims, particularly adult male and forced labour victims. Implementation of the 2000 UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol was one of the many other recommendations the US made to the government to overcome the challenge.
