In a matter of just one year, human trafficking by sea route along the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast has gone up by 61 per cent. Both Bangladeshis as well as Rohingyas are among the persons being trafficked, mostly to Malaysia.
This was revealed in last year’s annual report of the United National High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to the report, from July 2013 to June 2014, a total of 53 thousand people went to Malaysia illegally via the Bay of Bengal. The previous year, it had been 33 thousand. The most trafficking was seen to take place between October and January.
According to the Refugee and Migrating Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), this increase in human trafficking in a matter of one year is alarming. The increase has taken place as the government failed to take effective measures to prevent trafficking.
RMMRU said, the local agents mostly lure the people with promises of good jobs and good wages. Once they are on the high seas, they hold these people hostage and demand ransom of Tk 220 thousand to Tk 250 thousand.
According to RMMRU, in 2014, a total of 540 Bangladeshis died on the high seas while being trafficked. Many remain missing. About 500 are just from Sirajganj district alone. And 250 Bangladeshis from the same district have been tracked down in Thai jails. The traffickers have extracted large sums of ransom from around 3,500 families.
In a joint study by RRMRU and Sussex University, there are apprehensions of 16 million to 26 million people being displaced due to climate change. These affected people are being targetted for trafficking.
RMMRU director Tasneem Siddiqui said, the people from Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Bogra, Sirajganj, Barisal, Rangpur and Kurigram, areas affected by cyclones, floods, river erosion and natural disaster, who never thought of relocating to other districts, are now going illegally by sea route to Malaysia. They hardly have any way out.
Government fails in manpower export?
RMMRU said, human trafficking by illegal routes has increased ever since the government-to-government bilateral agreement signed between Bangladesh and Malaysia 2012 to send manpower to Malaysia. Earlier, the Malaysian labour market had been closed to Bangladeshi workers since 2009. The two countries then signed this agreement to open up the market and send workers to Malaysia at reduced rates and without hassle.
According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), 1.4 million people registered themselves at the government’s behest. Till March this year, only about 7000 have gone. Yet the government had said that every year 10,000 workers would be sent through legal routes.
Criticising this agreement, Tasneem Siddiqui said that the failure of the government to government agreement had led to the increase in illegal migration and human trafficking. As the agreement had failed, the tendency to go illegally increased. Those with the money, go by air on visit visas. Those without such means, fall prey to the agents and try to go to Malaysia illegally at the risk of their lives.
RMMRU’s 2012 annual report on migration warned the Bangladesh government that human trafficking would be an obstacle to legal migration.
Ali Haider Chowdhury, vice president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told Prothom Alo, the increase of human trafficking through illegal routes is even tarnishing the image of those involved in the business of legal migration.
Hazrat Ali, acting secretary of the expatriate welfare and overseas employment ministry, told Prothom Alo, the government has taken initiative to send people to Malaysia at reduced rates. The two governments have even signed an agreement in this regard. Now cooperation from all concerned is required to implement this initiative.
The acting secretary said, “The agreement was drawn up in the interest of the workers. We hope that after this initiative of the government, no one is lured to risk their lives to go by illegal routes.”
-Prothom Alo
