Daffodil International University
Faculty of Humanities and Social Science => Law => Topic started by: abduarif on January 16, 2015, 11:30:46 AM
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Md Nahidur Rahman
The year 1865 is considered to be the year of abolishment of slavery by the then US president Abraham Lincoln in America. But slavery is not over yet. Modern slavery is very common here in South and East Asian regions, particularly in Bangaladesh, Myanmar, Thailand And Malaysia. A new incident of capturing of human trafficking gang is happening before the previous incident being faded away.
In November 2014, Bangladesh Navy nabbed a Malaysia bound ship near the St Martin’s Island with 600 people on board. These fortune seekers were being dodged by human traffickers and were put on the boat with a promise of getting a job in Malaysia. A few days earlier, in November 14, two boys were rescued by the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) while they were being trafficked to Malaysia after being kidnapped. Last October, Thailand Police arrested 116 Bangladeshi people from a hideout of a remote island of Thailand. They were being trafficked to Malaysia along with other people from Myanmar. Earlier in June of this year another 313 fortune seekers were capsized by the Navy officials from the Bay of Bengal.
These are few accounts of trafficking attempts we came to know through the media after being captured by the law enforcing agencies. Certainly there are more people being trafficked and more incidents are taking place beyond our knowledge. The first thing to focus on is that the victims of illegal trafficking are needy, uneducated and hopeless young men and women who find themselves unemployed in the country. The local traffickers, who maintain syndicates in Bangladesh, approach them first with a lucrative offer of sending them to Malaysia or Thailand with only a minimum cost and also promise them lucrative jobs there.
In some cases, traffickers also abduct or kidnap the fortune seekers. After starting for Malaysia, in seven days of sailing they take a halt in the shore of Thailand. Then the local Thai traffickers take them to some sort of safe house. Things begin to change at this point. The brokers start torturing the people and force them to call their families at home to give additional money to the local gang in Bangladesh. This amount of ransom goes between Tk1.5 lakh to Tk3 lakh. Those able to manage the money would be sent to Malaysia on foot. A few victims die as a result of the brutal torture.
The human trafficking gangs which are active in Bangladesh are choosing remote points of Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf to load their ships with passengers as these points remain out of the range of patrolling most of the time. They use cargo ships for trafficking and most of the time the passengers are barely fed during their journey to Malaysia. They also torture them on the boat. Human rights issues are under a clear threat during such illegal trafficking operations.
Along with the local Bangali people a number of Rohingyas are also being the victims of trafficking. As an outcome of communal conflict out there in Myanmar, Rohingyas are being pushed from Myanmar to the territory of Bangladesh and they discover themselves unwelcome here. Afterwards they choose to go to Malaysia for a better future which turns into another nightmare. Of late, women and children are becoming another target group of the traffickers. 33 women and 32 children have been rescued from the last haul by the Navy.
Bangladesh’s criminal justice system and legal framework lack the capacity to adequately apprehend, prosecute and penalise all forms of human trafficking. To prevent human trafficking, Bangladesh parliament enacted Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act 2012. According to this Act, sending people by using forceful or fearful means for sexual or labour exploitation and any other involuntary work will be considered as human trafficking.
Those who violate this Act will be punishable with life imprisonment upto five years in jail along with a fine of Tk50,000. Besides providing preventive measure this Act also has protective measure for the victims which includes identification, rescue, repatriation, rehabilitation, social integration etc. There is also provision for setting up human trafficking offence tribunal to speed up the trial of the cases related to human trafficking.
As a matter of fact, no notable trial has been held against these captured traffickers and thugs. This shabby picture of trial and punishment lures the traffickers to go for a big invoice like the last incident. It is time the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs took serious action to deal with this issue with proper care. Bangladesh Navy is so far doing a good job with their existing patrol boat and equipment. But more attention needs to be paid by the local law enforcing agencies to combat this menace.
In some cases it has been reported that after being bribed, some officers of the local police and other officials are assisting these criminal gangs. To curb human trafficking, this hidden cause needs to be addressed. Along with these efforts, “Nari O Shishu Nirjaton Daman Tribunal” can also play a vital role to ease the load of trial activities. NGOs may come forward to build awareness among the people at the grass-root level about illegal trafficking and thus help address the menace.
Our efforts to fight the crime also needs to be reciprocated by the counterparts at the other end in Malaysia and Thailand. The US department of State publishes “Trafficking in Persons Report” every year after assessing various aspects of trafficking issues. This year Malaysia has been graded as tire-3 level country with the same category as Zimbabwe, North Korea and Saudi Arabia according to the report. The report indicates that Malaysia has frequently failed to comply with the most basic international requirements to prevent trafficking and protect victims within its borders.
It also shows that, Public Policy of Malaysia is less favourable to protect and prevent the victims of human trafficking. Malaysia has a rising market for construction, textile, sex and domestic labour industries which instigate illegal trafficking around Asia to Malaysia. We hope that the Malaysian government would spare no time in dealing with human trafficking issues as it attracts the concern of the world community. As the traffickers operate through transnational crime syndicate, concerned governments also need to put concerted efforts to fight back without which this battle would turn to a difficult one to win.
See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/juris/2015/jan/15/human-trafficking-rising-plight-and-way-out#sthash.eqriPZuS.dpuf