Call to ensure safe labour migration to avoid human trafficking 

Terming unsafe labour migration as the risky to economy, Anti-human trafficking campaigners at a programme called for raising awareness at the grassroots level for ensuring safe migration to prevent human trafficking.

While addressing an opinion exchange meeting at Hazratpur union parishad bhaban in Keraniganj recently, they observed that migrants are often the target of traffickers and find themselves in situations that can result in debt bondage, forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced and illegal marriages, losing lives and other forms of modern slavery.    

With the support of the US Department of State, Incidin Bangladesh, a rights organisation, and TdH Netherlands, a Netherlands-based development organisation, jointly organised the event titled "Counter-Trafficking Committee (CTC) Orientation", said a press release.

Bangladesh is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and child victims of human trafficking. All concerned particularly those at the grassroots level need to focus their efforts aimed at preventing exploitation of individuals by trafficking networks, the campaigners said.

If the safe migration of migrants is not ensured, it would be a great setback to our economy. In case of unsafe condition of migrants, Bangladesh would be deprived of getting due remittances. So, it is needed to ensure safe migration for the economic interest, they added.  

As part of an anti-trafficking programme supported by US Department of State, under the guidance of Bangladesh's National Plan of Action to combat human trafficking, Hazratpur Union Parishad recently formed a 35-member CTC comprising people from different professions, including public representatives.

Sophia Meulenberg, political officer, US Embassy in Dhaka and Andrew Grimmer, Foreign Affairs Officer, US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, shared their views with the new CTC at the meeting.

The new Counter-Trafficking Committee will perform its due role in combating trafficking, Sophia and Andrew hoped.

Terming human trafficking as a serious human rights violation, other discussants said all concerned must join their hands as the fight against trafficking and smuggling of migrants requires multi-stakeholder engagement.     

AKM Masud Ali, executive director of Incidin, chaired the programme. Md Anwar Hossain Aynal, chairman of Hazratpur Union Parishad,  Mahmudul Kabir, Bangladesh Country Director of Tdh Netherlands, Md Ishtiak Ahmed, a lawyer; Rabindranath Das, Principal of Hazratpur High School; among others, spoke at the event.