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Human trafficking and misplaced accountability
By Shasmul Huq Zahid
August 11, 2004
The US State Department's concern over Bangladesh becoming one of the most
vulnerable countries of origin in human trafficking is understandable. But its
threat to slap sanctions for failing to improve the situation is not. A State
Department team led by its Senior Coordinator Mark B Taylor held a meeting
Monday last with the Bangladesh home ministry officials in Dhaka to review the
situation with human trafficking in Bangladesh.
The home secretary, according to media reports, during the meeting made a
formal request to the US government to strike off the name of Bangladesh from
the list of countries that are doing the least to improve the situation
relating to human trafficking. He claimed that Bangladesh already had initiated
a lot of actions to deal with the problem.
In last June Bangladesh was included in a list of countries with the worst
human trafficking record. The other countries placed in the list included
Ecuador, North Korea, Venezuela, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Cuba, Guyana and Sudan. The governments in these countries, according to a US
State Department report prepared earlier, do not play any role in fighting a
serious crime like human trafficking.
The report estimated that 10 to 20 thousand Bangladesh women and girls are
trafficked annually to India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates for the purpose of 'sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic
servitude and debt bondage'. Besides, it said, children are also trafficked to
the UAE and Qatar to work as camel jockeys and beggars.
The report identified active assistance extended by corrupt law enforcers to
human traffickers and absence of any administrative action against them as one
of the major causes behind the increasing incidents of human trafficking in
Bangladesh. However, the US government suggested Bangladesh and other countries
on the list to implement some specific measures by August 14 next or face
possible sanctions in the form of cut in non-humanitarian and non-trade aid.
The suggested measures included activation of anti-trafficking unit in police,
prosecution of trafficking cases in speedy trial tribunals, development and
implementation of a systemic BDR screening to identify victims and prosecution
of at least one security official involved in human trafficking.
The government actions to meet the deadline included opening of a monitoring
cell at the police headquarters, monitoring of traffic-related cases, screening
of the people going out through air and land route, recovery and rehabilitation
of victims of trafficking, raising awareness against human trafficking etc. Out
of 20 selected cases of human trafficking, 13 were reportedly disposed of until
Monday last. At the meeting with the US State Department officials, the
Bangladesh home secretary presented a 53-page report on anti-trafficking
measures initiated during last two months in compliance with the initiatives
suggested by the US government.
Taylor and his two colleagues arrived in Dhaka to review the progress made in
the implementation of those measures. Their feedback would form a part of a
review report to be prepared by the State Department. It is the US Secretary of
State Colin Powel who would make comment on the review report.
But there are a few questions that the Bangladesh authorities need to answer.
Why should the US or any other country ask Bangladesh government to improve its
record relating to human trafficking and issue threat to impose sanctions in
case of its failure to do so? Why did not the government on its own feel it
necessary to deal with a heinous crime like women and child trafficking? There
have been scores of media reports on trafficking of women and children to
neighbouring India and Pakistan and to the Middle East. But the government had
never felt it necessary to explain to the people about its initiatives to
combat the crime and punish the criminals. There is no denying that it is
almost impossible to smuggle humans out of the country without active
assistance from the law enforcers, border security force and immigration
officials. But there has been virtually no effort on the part of the
administration to identify these corrupt officials and punish them.
Now one US threat to impose sanction has put the government on its toes. In
just two months, it has, as was claimed by the home secretary, initiated lots
of actions to improve its record on human trafficking and appease the US
administration. One can easily draw one's own conclusion how important issues
are being addressed by the administration here.
Then again, the issue of human trafficking has become a global problem and it
should be the job of the United Nations to address the issue properly. However,
any individual country is free to make its own assessment and decide to cut aid
to countries that would fail to stop trafficking of their own nationals.
But will a harsh measure like slashing aid to any country help stop trafficking
of humans, mainly women and children? Possibly not. A review of the problem
would reveal that poverty-ridden countries are highly vulnerable to human
trafficking. It is poverty that makes the people potential baits of human
traffickers. Any sanction is unlikely to stop the trade in humans. Rather, such
a measure might lead to further deterioration in poverty situation and
consequent rise in human trafficking.
However, preventive actions on the part of the governments concerned could help
bring down human trafficking. But the problem would not go away unless the
people in these countries are assured of basic minimum necessities to live like
human beings.
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Bangladesh:
US team lauds steps to control human trafficking
8-10-2004
Government
urged to reject US report on human trafficking
8-9-2004
Bangladesh
and human trafficking
8-4-2004
Human
trafficking in South Asia
7-12-2004
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