Trafficking in Bangladesh: Cases galore, but conviction rate poor

As many as 4,152 trafficking cases have been recorded in Bangladesh since it passed the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA) in 2012.

But when it comes to meting out justice, the rate of convictions remained very low.

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Bangladesh reported just 10 to 15 convictions a year in human trafficking cases in comparison to 50 to 80 convictions a year in neighbouring Nepal, said the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 2016, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Though PSHTA has a provision for a tribunal to exclusively handle trafficking cases, it has not yet been set up.

With governments, non-government organisations and right bodies across the globe going to observe the World Day against Trafficking in Persons tomorrow, the UN body said it will come up with its latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons at the end of this year.

“According to preliminary data, children make up almost 30 percent of all human trafficking victims worldwide. However, in some parts of the world, like West Africa and Central America, children account for the majority of victims detected. In addition, preliminary results also show that one third of the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are children,” said UNODC.

Low rate of convictions in trafficking cases can be one possible reason why Bangladesh has been bracketed for two years on the trot in the “Tier 2 Watch List” of the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Before 2017, Bangladesh had been in a better category for five years since 2011.

This year's TIP report published late last month stated that the Bangladesh government did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. However, it was making significant efforts to do so.

“Courts convicted only one trafficker in 2017 -- a decrease from 2016 and a low number compared with the scale of the trafficking problem,” said the TIP report.

It recommended that Bangladesh should take steps to eliminate recruitment fees charged to workers by licensed labour recruiters and ensure they are paid by employers; increase prosecutions and convictions, particularly of labour traffickers, fraudulent labor recruiters, and complicit government officials; proactively incorporate forced labour and sex trafficking prevention measures into the response to the Rohingya refugee crisis; increase investigations and prosecutions of credible allegations of trafficking of Rohingya; establish guidelines for provision of adequate victim care and standard operating procedures for the referral of victims to such services.