Human trafficking: Justice slips through cracks

In 2017, Atikur Rahman of Debidwar, Cumilla, filed a human trafficking case against Ershad Hossain, a Malaysian expatriate from the same area, accusing him of duping Atikur’s younger brother by sending him to Libya instead of Iran as promised.

According to the complaint, Ershad had reached a verbal agreement with the family to send the victim to Iran. The agreed sum was paid accordingly. However, in breach of this agreement, the accused instead arranged for the victim to be flown to Libya via Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in 2016.

Just days after arriving in Libya, the victim contacted his family via mobile phone, revealing he had been confined to a room. He reported that traffickers were demanding a ransom of Tk5 lakh and threatening to kill him if the money was not paid.

Seven years after the case was filed, in 2024, the Anti-Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal finally delivered its verdict.

According to court sources, out of 23 listed witnesses, only the complainant testified. In his statement to the court, he revealed that the matter had been settled locally with the accused and that he had no objection to their acquittal.

Consequently, the court found that the allegations against Ershad and all of the seven other accused could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted them.

This case reflects a broader pattern at the Anti-Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal in Dhaka. Court sources confirm that in the majority of cases, the accused are ultimately acquitted.

An analysis of tribunal activity over the past two and a half years shows that 61.55% of disposed cases ended in acquittal, while the conviction rate was a mere 8.14%.

Between 2023 and June 2025, the tribunal disposed of a total of 528 cases. Of these, only 43 ended in conviction, while 325 resulted in acquittals. The remaining cases were resolved through compromise or other legal processes.

More specifically, in 2023, the tribunal received 212 general register (GR) cases and 122 petition cases, disposing of 316 cases in total. Yet, only 10 convictions were secured, with 153 acquittals.

In 2024, the tribunal received 159 GR cases and 137 petition cases. Out of 212 cases disposed that year, just 24 resulted in convictions, while 132 ended in acquittal.

From January to June 2025, the tribunal received 96 GR cases and 106 petition cases, disposing of 142 cases in total. Of these, only nine led to convictions and 40 to acquittals.

Meanwhile, a report from the Ministry of Home Affairs reveals that as of January 2025, there were 4,360 pending human trafficking cases across the country. Of these, 1,346 remain under investigation, while 3,014 are awaiting trial.

Court officials attribute the high acquittal rate and low conviction rate largely to the absence of key witnesses.

“Even after summons are issued, many witnesses don’t appear. Sometimes we’re instructed to personally call them, and even then, they don’t come,” said one court official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“In some cases, even the complainants stop attending proceedings, which makes it very difficult to prove the charges,” the official added.

Mostafa Kamal Khan, the public prosecutor of the Anti-Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal in Dhaka, acknowledged the delays and logistical challenges in the judicial process.

“It takes nearly five to six years for a case to reach resolution, and often up to two years just to begin examining witnesses. By then, addresses and contact numbers of witnesses are often outdated or missing from the case files, making it difficult to trace them. That’s why we now ensure we collect mobile numbers from the outset.”

Speaking on the quality of investigations, Mostafa Kamal pointed out that most cases originate at the police station level and are investigated by station-level Investigating Officers (IOs).

“However, the level of expertise and equipment required for these complex cases is available only with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Once a case reaches court, we refer it to the CID, but that adds significant delay.”

He also raised concerns about the legal basis of many cases. “If the investigation isn’t conducted properly, the likelihood of securing a conviction is greatly reduced. Almost half of the cases are filed under Sections 12 and 13 of the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act – sections which do not always pertain to actual human trafficking.”