US puts Bangladesh on watch list in ‘trafficking in persons’ report

Bangladesh has been downgraded in the US ‘trafficking in persons’ report for not making enough efforts to combat the menace.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 June 2017, 07:26 PM
Updated : 27 June 2017, 07:26 PM

“Official complicity in trafficking crimes remained a serious problem, yet the government did not make efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict allegedly complicit law enforcement, border, and manpower officials," the State Department report said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson released the report on Tuesday in Washington and said all “must pursue an end to the scourge of human trafficking.”

Bangladesh managed to hold on in the Tier-2 for the last five consecutive years, but this year it was downgraded to Tier-2 Watch List.

Some 45 countries are in the ‘Tier 2 Watch List’ with Bangladesh including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Pakistan, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

China, Russia and Iran are among the worst offenders for human trafficking, accoridng to the report.

Trafficking in persons, considered as modern slavery or human trafficking, includes both sex trafficking and compelled labour.

According to the report, the Bangladesh government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

“The government demonstrated some efforts during the reporting period by finalising and adopting the implementing rules for the 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA) in January 2017 and drafting an implementation roadmap for the 2015-2017 national action plan.

With a record of almost 1,100 people drowning, suffocating or dying of hypothermia on overcrowded boats so far this year, the North Africa to Italy crossing is considered the deadliest sea passage in the world. Reuters

“However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.

“The government’s investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes and the number of victims identified by the government decreased.

“The government remained without a formal mechanism to refer trafficking victims to protective services and, protection services, when acquired, did not provide rehabilitation services designed for trafficking victims’ specific needs nor were they provided for adult male victims.

“NGOs reported victims were frequently re-trafficked due to insufficient care.

“While the government maintained labour export agreements with several countries that aim to tackle recruitment fees, the government’s continued allowance of high recruitment fees combined with insufficient efforts to address illegally operating recruitment sub-agents left workers vulnerable to trafficking.

“Therefore, Bangladesh was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List”, the report said justifying Bangladesh’s position.

It ranks countries in its four-tier ranking system.

Tier 1 means countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.

Tier 2 means countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

Tier 2 Watch List means countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards and:

a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;

b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or

c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

Tier 3 countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

The report recommended Bangladesh to take steps to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers by licensed labour recruiters and instead ensure they are paid by employers.

It also suggested increasing prosecutions and convictions, particularly of labour traffickers and fraudulent labour recruiters, while strictly respecting due process.

It also suggested establishing guidelines for the provision of adequate victim care and standard operating procedures for the referral of victims to such services, and thoroughly investigate credible allegations of government complicity in trafficking and asked to prosecute officials who are suspected of being complicit.

The report also asked to enhance the training provided to officials, including law enforcement, labour inspectors, and immigration officers, on methods to identify trafficking cases and refer victims to protection services and expand the support services available to victims, including adult male victims, within Bangladesh and at Bangladesh’s embassies abroad.

The report is the US government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking.

It enjoys the Congress' mandate, and it looks at what the governments are doing to combat human trafficking (modern day slavery) through the lens of what the US describes as the 3P paradigm -- “prevention, protection, and prosecution”.