Dhaka does not fully comply with minimum standards: US

Elimination of Human Trafficking
Dhaka does not fully comply with minimum standards: US
Bangladesh does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so, a US State Department report said.
The government has continued to address the sex trafficking of women and children, said the report released on Monday.
Briefing reporters in Washington DC, the State Department’s anti-trafficking coordinator Luis CdeBaca also highlighted strides made by several countries.
According to the report, the State Department added a number of Asian nations to its Tier 2 watch list — Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Bangladesh, China, India, Micronesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka remained on the list, unchanged from a year earlier.
Despite efforts, Bangladesh government did not demonstrate evidence of increased efforts to prosecute and convict labour trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for the fraudulent recruitment of Bangladeshi workers for the purpose of forced labour overseas, the report said.
“Similarly, the government did not demonstrate increased efforts to prevent the forced labour of Bangladeshi workers overseas through effective controls on high recruitment fees and other forms of fraudulent recruitment. So, Bangladesh is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.”
The report said that some government officials and members of civil society continue to believe the forced labour and debt bondage of Bangladeshi workers abroad was not considered labour trafficking, but rather employment fraud perpetrated on irregular migrants.
The State Department recommended that Bangladesh significantly increase criminal prosecutions and punishments for all forms of labour trafficking, establish special courts to prosecute labour trafficking offences, improve oversight of Bangladesh’s international recruiting agencies, provide protection services for trafficking victims and victims of forced labour and increase awareness campaigns at potential domestic and international migrants.

Courtesy of The Daily Star