US lauds Bangladesh for making significant efforts to eliminate trafficking

The Government of Bangladesh does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so, reads the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the United States.

It said the government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Bangladesh remained on Tier 2. 

These efforts included increasing prosecutions and convictions against traffickers, increasing investigations of cases involving Rohingya victims for the first time in recent years, and taking steps to lower some recruitment fees associated with the government-run recruitment agency. 

According to the new report released on Thursday (June 15), the government extended its NAP to 2025 and published its first national study on human trafficking in Bangladesh.

However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas, says the report. 

Although the government increased law enforcement efforts, it did not take adequate steps to address internal sex trafficking or official complicity, both of which remained pervasive; and it did not consistently hold accountable sub-agents conducting illegal recruitment operations. 

It said victim protection efforts remained insufficient, including shelter services and availability, and the government identified and referred to care significantly fewer victims. 

“The government did not uniformly employ SOPs to identify trafficking victims, including among vulnerable populations, and authorities continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling in many cases.”

Furthermore, it said courts sentenced the majority of traffickers to fines rather than jail time, which weakened deterrence, undercut the government’s overall anti-trafficking efforts, and likely created security and safety concerns for victims, says the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report.

In regards to prosecution, the US report said the Bangladesh government increased overall law enforcement efforts. The 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA) criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment and a fine of not less than 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) ($476).

Bonded labor was treated as a separate crime with lesser prescribed penalties of five to 12 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than 50,000 BDT ($476). These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as kidnapping.

The government reported that it investigated 480 cases involving 2,033 suspects, including 39 sex trafficking cases, 269 labor trafficking cases, and 172 cases for unspecified forms of trafficking, and continued to investigate 712 cases from previous years. 

This compared with the investigation of 594 cases involving 2,587 suspects and continued investigation of 449 cases during the previous reporting period. The police initiated prosecution of 923 suspects – 14 for sex trafficking, 398 for forced labor, and 511 for unspecified forms of trafficking – and continued prosecution of 906 suspects from the previous reporting period. This compared with prosecution of 620 suspects in the previous reporting period. 

In regards to protection, the US report said the Bangladesh government made mixed progress on protection efforts.  It said the government did not report anti-trafficking data consistently from year to year, making it difficult to assess accurately the trafficking situation in country, discern year-to-year trends, and compare data. 

“The government identified 240 trafficking victims, including 115 sex trafficking victims, 92 forced labor victims, and 33 victims of unspecified forms of trafficking.  This number was much lower than the 1,138 victims reportedly identified in the previous reporting period, which likely included victims of other crimes.”

Observers noted the actual number of victims identified by the government during the reporting period was likely much higher due to insufficient data gathering throughout the year. Civil society and international organizations reported identifying at least 6,781 trafficking victims, including 961 for sex trafficking, 3,764 for labor trafficking, and 2,056 for unspecified forms of trafficking.

The US in its trafficking report recommended to increases efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, including complicit officials, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms. 

Increase efforts to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, including adopting formal victim identification procedures and screening processes to prevent inappropriate penalization of potential victims, and refer victims to appropriate services, reads the report. 

Strengthen the capacity of Anti-Trafficking Tribunal personnel to prosecute and adjudicate human trafficking cases, and expand tribunals to heavy caseload areas. Increase training for officials, including law enforcement, labor inspectors, immigration officers, and health care providers, on identification of trafficking cases and referring victims to services.

Improve quality of pre-departure trainings for migrant workers, including sessions on labor rights, labor laws, and access to justice and overseas assistance. Increase oversight of, and protections for, workers in the informal sectors, including home-based workers, and enable labor inspectors to file cases in labor or criminal courts as appropriate.

Increase monitoring to prevent child sex trafficking, particularly children who are experiencing homelessness or use the streets as a source of livelihood, as well as the children of adults engaged in commercial sex in brothels.