Human trafficking thru’ 18 routes goes on

Cost between Tk 3 lakh and Tk 15 lakh

Golam Mostafa Jibon: At least 18 routes have become transit route for human trafficking to different countries from Bangladesh that growing concern to the law enforcers.
A section of traffickers is alluring people to send several countries at a cost between Tk 3 lakh and Tk 15 lakh.
According to the sources, despite enhancing of surveillance by the law enforcement agencies to prevent human trafficking, the malpractices have not yet been stopped.
In contrary, the culture is increasing day by day putting the collective efforts of the concerned law enforcement agencies at vain. Often the tragic headlines of hundreds of immigrants’ deathsby drowning in the Mediterraneanwhile trying to enter Italy and Spain through brokers give us pain. There are also reports of thousands of people waiting in danger in the snow-covered jungles of the Balkans hoping to enter Europe.
On the other hand, thousands of girls caught in the clutches of brokers are being trafficked to India and are being oppressed. According to various sources, human trafficking is taking place abroad on at least 18 routes from the country. Bangladeshis are now at the top among those trying to go to Europe by sea.
According to BRAC’s immigration program, most of those entering Europe illegally are between 25 and 40 years old. Most of them have spent Tk 3 lakh to Tk 15 lakh per person on trips abroad.
CID Special Superintendent of Police Muhammad Saidur Rahman Khan said, “We are seriously investigating the cases of human trafficking. Many who have been trafficked are now returning to the country with the interference of the government. But, there is no chance to say that trafficking has decreased.
We are trying, but the situation is still worsened. So, we should work more on this regard.”
The CID official said, the kidnappers shot dead 26 Bangladeshis in a prison camp in the Libyan city of Mizda in May 2020.
Even after being bullet hit, 12 people survived. Their families filed 25 separate cases in different police stations across the country. Of them, Charge Sheets of 24 cases have been submitted to the court, while a final report was submitted against a case. The total numbers of accused in the Charge Sheet were 288. Of them, 153 people were arrested. The CID has issued red notices through Interpol against six of the fugitives.
Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan Division) Mashiur Rahman recently arrested two accomplices of a trafficker ring, who are involved with sending people to Iraq.
Quoting the confessional statements of the arrested, the intelligence officer said that, human trafficking has decreased; there is no chance to say that. But, the government’s surveillance has increased compared to earlier.
He also said, people are being trafficked out of greed. In the last eight years, 20 lakh people have trafficked by crossing the Mediterranean. At that time, more than 19,000 people died when the trawler sank while crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Bangladeshis are also among the people of different countries of the world who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and drowned in the sea. Not only that, Bangladesh is in the top ten of the lists of people trying to enter Europe through the Mediterranean.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recently provided such information on human trafficking. The CID’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has found that human trafficking networks are widespread in at least 15 districts across the country.
The CID investigation has revealed that more than 300 people from 14 circles in 15 districts of the country are involved in human trafficking in Libya. There are at least 25 active members in each cycle. Human trafficking rings are active in Dhaka, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Madaripur, Kishoreganj, Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Noakhali, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Faridpur, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Narail and Barguna.
The investigation into the brutal torture of 26 Bangladeshis who were trafficked to Libya in 2020 has revealed the painful experience through the narration of a Bangladeshi.
At the age of 19, the young man embarked on a perilous journey to Libya in search of work. For this, his fake passport was made through a broker, where his age was shown as 21 years. He was tempted to go to Libya to work and become rich.
It is said that, you can earn crores of Taka by working there. But he was not told about the plight, torture, persecution or risk of people going to Libya.
At first, the young man was taken by bus from Dhaka to Kalkata. Later he was taken to Libya on different flights via Mumbai, Dubai and Cairo. Shortly after leaving for Libya, he was imprisoned for extortion. The young man sold a cow in the beginning of his journey, this time the family paid the ransom by selling two other cows.
Where he was kept, there were 15 more Bangladeshis like him. After being released from there, he worked for a while in a factory in Tripoli. But he was also tortured there. He then decided to cross the Mediterranean again to Europe with the help of traffickers.
Later, he crossed the Mediterranean at the risk of his life with 79 Bangladeshis in a Dinghy boat. After being rescued from the Mediterranean, they were first taken to the island of Lampadusa, then they were sent to a shelter in Polymero on the outskirts of Sicily.
Like him, many people are being trafficked regularly by a section of traffickers. Elite people urged the authorities concerned to bring the traffickers to the book as soon as possible.