CHAPTER 01

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Introduction:
One of the distinguishing characteristics of Homo sapiens is his tendency to migrate for
self preservation and self improvement 1.Migration is defined as a permanent or semipermanent change of residence, usually across some type of administrative boundary, a
person can migrate many times, for varied durations and across numerous territorial
divisions. Migration affects and affected by economic development and international
relations2.
Some of the major forms human migrations are forced and voluntary migration. Forced
migration focuses on the choice between life and likely death in the conditions of slavery,
war and in the relocation programs in post war situation of a country. A refugee is defined
as a person who has left or who is outside of his country of nationality or formal habitual
residence. A refugee also includes anybody who has been deported from or has been
obliged to leave his country of nationality or of former habitual residence because of
racial, religious and political reasons3. On the other hand, most people migrate for a
variety of voluntary reasons. The decision to move is based on choice. Voluntary
migrations include seasonal migration, revering agriculturalist or nomads.
Both the involuntary and voluntary seasonal migration are forced either by socio-political
or by ecological conditions. The most significant factors of Bangladeshi migration to the
Gulf state and women trafficking related to illegal migration is poverty and economic
inequality. Nearly 50% of Bangladeshi population subsists on less than US$ 1.25 per day
and four fifth on less than US$ 2 a day 4.About 31.5 % of Bangladeshi people is living
below the poverty line .The recent spike in food prices , causing food inflation have
impact on poverty . Although poverty rates have fallen day by day. The incidence of
poverty has decreased to 31.5 % in 2010 at the national level with an annual average rate
of 1.32 % from 1991-92.but the number of population living under poverty line is still
increasing. The number of population living below poverty line has increased from 51.6
million in 1991-92 to 56 million in 2005 with an annual average rate of 0.314 % at
national level The decreased rate in the percentage of poverty gap during 2005 to 2010
1

TOIT ,BRIAN M .DU; Migration and Urbanization : Models and adaptive Strategies ; Chapter- 01
; Mouton publishers , The Hague , Paris 1975
2
Wood, William. B; Forced Migration: Local Conflicts and International Dilemmas; Office of the
Geographer and Global Issues, US Department of State.
3
UN 1974 :816
4

UNDP (2009) Human Development Report. Overcoming barriers: human mobility and
Development. New York: UNDP.

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(5.56 % ) was lower than that of 2000 to 2005 (5.94 % ) at national level . In case of rural
areas, the percentage of both depth and severity of poverty has reduced at a slower rate
during 2005 -2010 than that between 2000 and 2005. Gini co efficient of income has
increased from 0.451 to 0.458 at national level with a growth rate of 0.16 % during the
2000-20105. Bangladesh remains one of the most densely populated states in the world
and cannot secure sustainable livelihoods for all its citizens, particularly those dependent
on accessing land6. Illegal migration refers to the migration of people across national
borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destined country. Illegal
immigration is overwhelmingly upward , from a poorer to a richer country . In 2005 to
2008, Bangladeshi international labor migrants increased from around 300,000 to 9,
00,000. . Between five to seven million Bangladeshi are thought to work abroad and two
fifths of these are thought to have worked in Gulf state between 1976 and
20097.According to International Labor Organization (ILO) 60% of male Bangladeshi
migrants move to Saudi Arabia and 40 % of Bangladeshi female migrants travel to
Kuwait and third key destination for Bangladeshi Gulf migrants is the UAE 8. Women who
have been sold or have gone to the middle east as maids are mostly young (between 12
and 258 years) and from very poor families 9. Available data suggest that about 02 million
women and children have been trafficked to the Middle East in the last two decades and
about 02 million women have been trafficked to Pakistan over the last ten years. 10About
15000 Bangladeshi are enticed yearly out of the country by traffickers, and thousand
more leave voluntarily in an attempt to escape abject poverty. International buying and
selling of trafficked women include as slaves, maids, wives or prostitutes 11. Family can
suffer poorness because illness, death of a breadwinner, business losses .these factors
contributes to a loss in income and subsequently to the increase in migration. People
choice to migrate when they see no other avenues to eradicate their debt. Financial
incapability comes from poverty. High cost of migration and limited options to finance
short term movement abroad can act as a constraint for poor community members who
desire to migrate. In the Bangladesh Household Remittance Survey 67 % of respondents
5

Report ; Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh ; Unnayan Onneshan ; Centre for research and
action on development
6
World Bank 2007
7
Hear , Nicholas Van ; Bakewell Oliver ; Long Katy ; Migrating out of poverty ; Research
Programmers Consortium ;Working paper 01 ; March 2012.
8
Ibid,p-16
9
Sarker and Panday , 2006
10
MWCA , 1997
11
Paul and Hasnath , 2000

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took a loan to cover partial or full costs of their migration, money from family members
was the next most common source (41%), selling of land 24 %, mortgaging of land 23 %
and selling of other assets 20 %. the most marginalized Bangladeshis are unable to access
migration channels because they dont hold sufficient financial support. Thats mean the
inability of many aspirant migrants to directly procure recruitment agency services make
Bangladeshis accept a high level of risk and will move irregularly outside the formal
migration framework in order to secure short term overseas employment . However ,
Purpose to migrate to the richest countries is to improve living standard by income
maximization and accumulation of wealth for future .Trafficking is a concern in
Bangladesh because a great deal of population migration is undocumented. Bangladeshi
are moving to richest country like Middle East, Quarter, Bahrain, UAE Malaysia, and
Indonesia and so on without going through the immigration channels of the destination
countries. Illegal, irregular, undocumented, or clandestine migration is associated
with trafficking.

Literature Review:
Trafficking is a highly complicated and multimillion dollar business. There are many
factors that tend to be common to trafficking. The structural factors of human trafficking
are similar to one another such as the underlying economic and social context but in the
larger context its patterns are varied and depend on geographical and regional location
(Cameron et al .2008). Globally, an estimate 12.3 million people are enslaved (ILO
2005).Out of this number, an estimate 2.5 million people are in forced labor (coerced
prostitution and sexual exploitation).Out of the 2.5 million , an estimated 1.4 million
people constituting approximately 56 % of victims in forced labor come from Asia .
Human Trafficking business generates huge profits. An estimated $31.6 billion in profits
was accumulated through exploitation through sexual or forced labor exploitation. Out of
this number, about 15.5 billion, constituting about 49%were generated in industrial
countries, 9.7 billion about 30.6% were in Asia Pacific, 1.3 billion or 4.1 was for Latin
America and the Caribbean ,1.6 billion about 5%were in Sub-Saharan Africa and 1.5
billion or about 4.7% were generated in the Middle East .(Besler 2005) 12 . Most common
means of human trafficking is that the desire of potential victims to migrate is exploited
12

Rahman, A. Majeed ; Human Trafficking in the era of Globalization: The case of Trafficking in
the Global Market Economy. ISSN 2191-1150 Transcience Journal Vol 2, No 1 (2011)

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by offenders to recruit and gain initial control or cooperation, only to be replaced by more
coercive measures once the victims have been moved to another state or region of the
country. Estimate of irregular migrants in selected Asian countries such as Japan include
5,864, Republic of Korea 6,939, Malaysia 2, 46400, Thailand 81000. A growing number
of researches reveal that a significant share of Bangladeshis trafficking victim is women
recruited for work overseas with false employment offers 13. Bangladeshi men women
migrate to Malaysia, the Gulf and other countries to work in the construction sector or
garment industry; they are sometimes induced into forced labor through fraudulent job
offers or after arrival in the destination country. Many recruiting agencies exploit
prospective migrants, charging high fees and failing to guarantee basic standards of
employment. (Plant 2008). Illegal fees imposed formally by Bangladeshi recruitment
agents sometimes serve to facilitate debt bondage situation. Some Bangladeshi women
working abroad are subsequently trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, domestic
servitude and bonded labour 14.A report of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) in 20007 identified trafficking as a complex development issue. It is an
economic problem, as the vast majority of women seeking to escape poverty are lured
into trafficking by the false promise of economic gain . Two common types of trafficking
exit in Bangladesh. one is internal and other is cross border trafficking .At the cross
border level, they are smuggled by gangs of traffickers to further destinations such as
India, Pakistan and other middle eastern countries where their ultimate fate is a life of
sexual exploitation , abuse and other forms of bonded labor .So , The nature of women
trafficking has promoted and eventually developed sex trade in Bangladesh. Human
Rights Association estimates that one million women and children had been trafficked
from Bangladesh after independence. According to an estimate of UNCEF and SAARC
about 4,500 women and children are being trafficked out of Bangladesh each year to
India, Pakistan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. A small number of women and
girls are trafficked through Bangladesh from Burma to India.
Most common factor that makes population want to migrate in search of better condition
is poverty15.In the preamble to the UN Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in
Persons, the General Assembly recognizes that poverty, unemployment, lack of socio13

Wahid, Zeenat Huda; Kabir, Humayun ; Khan , Touhid Hossain ; Globalization of Women
Trafficking and Sex Tourism in Bangladesh : A Neglected Discourse; Social Science Review [The
University of Dhaka]. Vol.30 , No.1 , June 2013
14

Article ; Ali, Habib Mohammad ;Poverty , globalization and human trafficking

15

www.osce.org/documents/pc/2005/07/15594_en.pdf

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economic opportunities, gender-based violence, discrimination, marginalization are some

of the contributing factors that make persons vulnerable to trafficking in persons
(Assembly resolution 64/293). The hypothesis is that an improvement in the economic
and labor opportunities in origin countries reduces the number of persons willing to risk
unsafe working opportunities. For example, Hungary is not a major origin of trafficking.
Hungarian victims detected outside Western and Central Europe is increased from less
than 1.5% to 5% in recent years when Hungarian unemployment rate increase from 5.5 %
in 2001 to 11% in 201016. Researchers argue that poverty is the root cause for human
trafficking in Bangladesh. In 2007, the poverty level increased to 44% due to natural
calamities and price hike. A study by UNDP in 2007 tried to prove that poverty is listed
first on any list of trafficking vulnerability factors in all South Asian countries including
Bangladesh. Bangladesh ranked 102nd on the UNDP Gender Development Index for
2004with an estimated earned income , calculated by the purchasing power parity (PPP)
method ,of US$1,170 for females and US$ 2,540 for males . 17 In a study in 1999 ,
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association tried to show that poverty cannot be
taken as the main cause for human trafficking rather they argue high rate of illiteracy
among the vulnerable groups for illegal migration They found that about 88% of
trafficked women are illiterate and 9% received primary education ,In 2004 , The
Ministry of Women and Childrens Affairs , Bangladesh (MWCA) published a review ,
entitled The Counter Trafficking Framework Report : Bangladesh Perspective . They
identify the laws relating to this problem, preventive strategies, cause, modes and extent
of human trafficking in Bangladesh .There are push and pull factors behind the people
who migrate illegally or through the trafficking process . The demand for trafficked
labour shapes the pull dimension of the trafficking cycle. Demand generally stems from
irregular illegal sectors s such as commercial sex work and domestic work, fishing or ship
breaking. Macro level conditions related to globalization and international labour markets
also influence demand side.

16
17

Global report on Trafficking in Persons ; UNODC , 2012

Article ; Ali, Habib Mohammad ;Poverty , globalization and human trafficking

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CHAPTER -02

Objectives:

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 To show most prominent characteristic of Human Trafficking.

To explain sex trade from BD.
To mention the link between illegal migration and human trafficking from
Bangladesh
To explain the impacts of Migration policy and emigration cost in increasing
illegal migration
To mention the suffering of illegal migrants in abroad.
To know the role of BD constitution and government actions against women
trafficking from BD.

Research Questions:
1) What is the role of poverty in illegal migration?
2) What are the challenges on legal labor migrants?
3) What types of position faced by illegal migrants?
4) How we evaluate sex trade from Bangladesh?

Hypothesis:
Income inequality escalates illegal migration.
Challenge on legal labor migration lead to illegal labor migrants
Illegal migration increases sex trade from Bangladesh by promising to give better
employment opportunity in abroad.
Governments inadequate actions escalate this link between illegal migration and
women trafficking.

Methodology:
In order to conduct this research qualitative data was collected Qualitative. Data was
collected by taking some cases of illegal migration in which some people are victim of
trafficking. A total 03 cases were taken. We find answers of some question through these
cases. Newspaper reports, literatures, journals were studied vigorously before finalizing
the design of the case studies. Usually three female migrants were taken as respondent.
The collected data were analyzed by using computer software. Secondary information

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used in the paper was collected from different national and international research papers,
journals, articles, newspapers including internet sources.

Methods of Data Collection:

Primary data to collect primary data for the study I followed methods of observation.
During the process of collecting case i had the opportunity of observing some of the
phenomenon such as means of going abroad, types of oppressions faced by migrants,
social factors that lead to migration, relationship between variables and so on. These
observations were a great way to identify the process of internal trafficking in
Bangladeshi labor migrants particularly women .It was sift through some preliminary
concepts before selecting finalists to test in depth and to determine what to ask about and
how to ask it in a research survey
Secondary data Secondary data was used for the reanalysis of previously collected and
analyses data. Secondary sources were published books and articles by scholars. In this
study the use of books, journals, reports, officials records and documents had been some
of the most important sources of data collection. These official records and documents
included organizational; documents and reports etc.
The books and published documents relevant to the study were collected from various
sources such as
Library, Sufia Kamal Gonogonthagar (Sufia Kamal library of mass people) at
Sahbug, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Library, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh .
Related website.

Limitation Of The Study:

While conducting the study, I went through a number of hurdles. This report bears the
following limitations.
1) I didnt receive any official response or cooperation from the NGOs who work on
women rights and illegal migration, government officials, bureaucrats who are
related to this concerning issue.
2) Only one method has taken to test hypothesis. This method of case study has
several limitations-

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 Limitation of getting adequate information. Research is conducted based

on limited information
Existence of a challenge of neutrality (biased free)
Most of cases this method is taken along with another method.
3) Only experts are able to use this method of case study
4) Great portion of this report is literature based.

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CHAPTERT 03

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THEORITICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Poverty / Income inequality

to earn money

hindrance on living standard

go to abroad legally and illegally

seeking ways
fall victim of trafficking.

Increase in poverty, especially when associated with immediate crises can increase the
likelihood of illegal. The 1994 economic crisis in Mexico was associated with widespread
poverty. When potential immigration believes that the chances of successfully migration
upwards are greater than the risks / costs, illegal immigration becomes an option 18. The
benefits include improvements in income and living condition and potential future
residential permits19. Poverty is only a major factor in criminality if wealth is given great
status in the society or it leads to some group or individuals being deprived of the
necessities of life. There are two related factors
Economic or income inequality
Relative deprivation
Income inequality refers to a gap between rich and poor most important thing is that this
inequality will be characterized by unfairness. 20 . Most of the Asian migration in foreign
countries is caused to be economically improved.21

Push Pull model:

Push pull model refers to demand and supply side of women trafficking .Labor
migration is an important part of the global economy. UNFPA, 2001 and WB remittance
2011 shows that around 214 million people were residing outside their country of
nationality and they transferred globally USD441 billion remittances 22. Labor migration
has become one of the core foreign country earning sectors in Bangladesh .Since 1976
18

Valenzuela, Jr., Abel; Theodore, Nik; Melndez, Edwin; Gonzalez, Ana Luz (January 2006). "On
the Corner: Day Labor in the US". UCLA Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. Retrieved 200912-11.
19
Feere, John (August 2010). "Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global
Comparison". Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
20
Box(19870,,p.88,quoting Carroll and Jackson (19830, p. 186
21
Siddiqui and Abrar 2003.
22
Facing the Challenge of labor migration , policy brief ,issue-4 , Institute of Informatics and
Development , Development Research Network

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more than 7.1 million Bangladeshi have gone abroad by taking overseas employment.
Bangladesh has been experiencing growth in the migration of female domestic workers to
the Gulf. From less than 1% in 1990, in 2010 7.9% of Bangladeshi migrants were
women23. Illegal migration refers to the migration of people across national borders in a
way that violates the immigration laws of the country of destination. Some countries have
million of illegal immigrants. When potential immigrants believe that the chances of
successfully migrating upwards are greater than the risk / costs, illegal immigration
becomes an option. The benefits include both the expectation of income and living
condition improvements and potential future residential permits. However , Recent cases
of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants include Indonesian police arrested 115 undocumented
migrants from Bangladesh24 , more than 2400 illegal immigrants including 387
Bangladeshi nationals were detained in the crackdown by Malaysian government .There
are 5 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia and around 30000 are irregular among these .
25

Women trust the offers of work or marriage abroad, which promise security but
eventually lead them to slavery and prostitution. According to the study conducted by
IMO 2005, over 1 million women were trafficked out of the country in the last 30 years
and many of them were forced to become prostitute. At least 1008 Bangladeshi women
were trafficked out of the country between 2001 and 2003. Push factors of trafficking is
socio-economic status. Most trafficked persons come from areas where 50-60% of the
population lives on US$1 a day (Getu 2006) Extreme poverty forces women to be
vulnerable to the traffickers. Socio-economic vulnerability of women has left them few
options for livelihood in Bangladesh. So, Traffickers can easily procure women by luring
them with promises and hopes of better life

Poverty:
There is no single concept of poverty .Different groups within a society may construct it
in different ways because of the moral imperative of poverty and its implication for the
distribution of resources both within and between societies . It is a potential concept and
emphasizes on socio-economic structural condition. Poverty has been defined as

23
24
25

BMET data on Female Migration , www.bmet.gov.bd

Newspaper , The Daily Star ; Sunday , September 02,2013
Newspaper , The Daily Star ; Sunday , September 01,2013

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Lack of basic security, the absence of one or more factors that enable individuals and
families to assume basic responsibility and to enjoy fundamental rights (Wresinski
Report, 1987).
Poverty research economy define poverty in relative terms , as having insufficient
resources to meet socially recognized needs and to participate in the wider society
(Peter Townsends path-breaking work 1979)
United nations defined poverty is as the inability of human dignity , it means not having
enough to feed and clothe a family , not having a schools or clinic to go to , not having
the land on which to grow ones food or a job to earn ones living , not having access to
credit . it means insecurity , powerlessness and exclusion of individual , households
and communities . It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies in marginal
or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.26
World Bank says poverty is the deprivation in well being and comprises many
dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and
services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of
health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical
security, lack of voice and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better ones life.27
So, poverty refers to the absence or inadequate resources that indicate peoples inability to
meet socially recognized needs. Needs include fundamental rights such as having enough
to feed, clothe, housing, education, clinic a family. Poverty includes peoples deprivation
in well being as well as insufficient capacity and opportunity to ensure better life along
with powerlessness and exclusion.

Labour Migration:
Labor migration, both internal and international, has become an important element of
family life in developing countries (Lucas 1997). According to WB (2003) over 120
million people in developing nations live outside their country of origin and send back
over 80 billion dollars in 2002 to their home countries. 28 Several distinct categories of
people migrate for work purpose, differentiated by their skills, the permanence of their
residence in the host country and their legal status. At the lower end of the skills
26
27
28

Lister , Ruth ; Poverty page 4-5

Ibid p4-5
Lu , Yao ; The link between migration and Health : A Longitudinal Analysis of Indonesian .

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spectrum, migrants pick fruits and vegetables, manufacture garments and other items.
Overseas domestic service is a common occupation for migrants women. People migrate
through legal and illegal ways. Unauthorized migrants can be found in almost as diverse a
range of jobs and industries as authorized workers with agricultural and food processing
jobs being the most common types of employment. Unauthorized women migrants also
are smuggled into country by traffickers, many others have been recruited to work in
legitimate occupations and then find themselves trapped into forced prostitution,
marriage, domestic work, sweatshops and other forms of exploitation.29

Women Trafficking:
Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or
receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a vulnerability or of the
giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include the
exploitation of the prostitution of others forms of sexual exploitation , forced labor or
services , slavery or practices similar to slavery , servitude or the removal of organs 30.
This definition refers to three elements
1st the act, which includes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt
of persons
2nd the means, including the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud , of deception , of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability
or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person
having control over another persons
3rd the purpose, which is always exploitation such as prostitution or other forms of
sexual exploitation , forced labor or services , slavery , servitude and the removal of organ
.31
Trafficking is defined as the moving, selling or buying of women and children for
prostitution within and outside a country for monetary or other considerations with or
without the consent of the person subjected to trafficking 32
29

Hansen , Randall and Gibney , Matthew J ; Immigration and Asylum : From 1990 to the
Present , volume 01
30
Trafficking in Persons Protocol , article 3(a ;)United Nations General Assembly (2000)
31

Global report on Trafficking in Persons ; UNODC , 2012

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Trafficking of women is defined as covering of such factors as 33

Bringing in women or children from abroad sending them out of the country.
Dealing in the purchase and sale of women and children or hiring them out or
handing them over for torture or for similar purposes
Keeping women and children in possession or custody for such purpose.

32

Article 01 ; South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)Convention on

Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution ,2002
33

Section 5 and 6 , Women and Children Repression Prevention Act ,2000.

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CHAPTER 04

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ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
Poverty, Illegal migration and Women trafficking from Bangladesh:
Poverty is not a static condition. It is characterized by the inequality to devise an
appropriate coping or management strategy in times of crisis. Poverty is associated with
food expenditure , unemployment rate and so on and it influences on the number of
people living below poverty line .in 2000 , the food inflation was 2.68 % when 55.8
million people were living under the po0verty line . In 2005 56 million people living
below the poverty line when food inflation was 7.91 %.
The poverty gap estimates the depth of poverty in the population. The head count rates
give only the percentage value of poverty incidence, but it doesnt measure the distance of
the poverty prone households from the poverty line. The poverty gap was 12.8 % in 2000
and it decreased to 9.0% in 2005 and further decreased to 6.5 % by 2010. The decreased
rate in the % of poverty gap during 2005 to 2010 was lower than that of 2000 to 2005 at
national level.
There is an incensement of monthly household expenditure. The monthly households
expenditure has risen from TK.4090 in 1995-1996 to TK 11,200 in 2010 at national level.
The incidence of poverty is higher in rural areas than that of the urban areas. Rural
poverty results from lack of assets, limited economic opportunity, poor education and
capabilities, social and political inequality .There is following a figure about affording
money to go abroad by migrants.34
MEANS OF COLLECTING MONEY

PERCENTAGE

Take loan
Collecting money from family member
Selling land
Mortgaging of land
Selling of other assists

67%
41%
24%
23%
20%

Bangladesh is one of the major labor sending countries of the world. Each year a large
number of people voluntarily migrate overseas for both long and short term employment.
A clear separation between trafficking and other forms of supposedly legal migration may
be more apparent than real. Labor recruitment from Bangladesh involves various
government ministries and agencies, private recruiting agents and their local and
34

IOM 2009

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international intermediaries and potential migrants and their families. The point of
looking at the cost of recruiting legal workers in the context of trafficking is two folds:
First is to show that bureaucratic procedures are often so complex and costly that
it is cheaper and faster to approach a trafficker to gain entry to a desired
destination.
Second suggests that there are illegal payments in the legal process and that there
is overlap between trafficking and legal labor migration at several points in the
process, starting with certain employers and most particularly, government
officials35.
In Bangladesh, private recruitment agencies, individual recruiters, subagents of registered
recruitment agencies and travel agencies are important in encouraging and shaping the
nature of migration flow.
There are following some conditions that induce illegal movement and consequently
make a way of trafficking:
1. Labor markets are extremely tight, with severe labor shortages at many skill
levels in the more developed parts of the Asia There is following categories of
Bangladesh labor migrants belong
2. Although the Government of Bangladesh is committed to promoting short term
international migration, it does not have any planned programme for accessing
the rapidly changing international labor market
3. There is few legal immigration Channels to allow workers to enter most of these
destined countries.
Existence of private recruiting agencies In the 1970s, the government was
responsible for carrying out the function of recruitment. Since 1981, private
recruiting agencies are erupted. Some of the recruiting or subagents commit fraud
in processing the passport
System of Dalals (informal agents) Almost all recruiting agencies are based in
the capital city, Dhaka. These agencies recruit through a host of informal agents
and sub agents who perform two key functions such as the recruitment of workers
and the financial transaction.
The Dalal system has not been institutionalized. They arent formally registered with the
recruiting agents they serve and they do not possess any formal identification
35

Skeldon ,Ronald ; Trafficking : A Perspective from Asia

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documents .Resulting in both recruiting agents and their sub-agents can commit fraud and
evade responsibility. In the absence of any documentation, the government is unable to
take action.
Individual recruitment about 50-60 % of recruitment is conducted through
individual and social network usually persons already deployed in the host
countries arrange visas for their friends relatives through their own contacts,
Sometimes these visas are sold to interested parties (Siddiqui-2002) .
03. High migration cost: High cost of migration and limited options to finance
international movement act as a constraint for poor community members who desire to go
abroad.
04. Challenge on the access to mobility and at pre-departure phase:
Although the current government has attempted to ease female migration from
Bangladesh, men and women do not yet enjoy equal access to participate in the
international labor market. The 1982 Ordinance has major shortcoming in making the
recruitment industry accountable. Potential migrants face fraudulent practices at almost
every stage of processing migration .Irregularity in the process of migration has resulted
in an increase in undocumented migration from Bangladesh.36
05. Government officials in origin countries (and more destination countries) are paid
extremely low wages and are always in search of alternative source of income. The
buying and selling of the visa itself has become a profitable business for a certain group.
A nexus of interest has developed among high level state functionaries in the labor
receiving countries, their recruiting agents. This nexus is involved in visa transaction
through irregular practices.

Policy related challenges on legal migration: There are following some

challenges of migration policy that induces illegal migration.

36

Article , Facing the Challenges of Labour Migration from Bangladesh ; Policy Brief , Issue 04 ,
December 2011 , Institute of Informatics and Development .

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POLICY NAME

FOCUSED MATTERS

CHALLENGES

Emigration
Ordinance
Act 1982

Efficiently monitor and regulate

emigration of workers from the
country.

During the last three decades,

dynamics of labor migration
gas changed dramatically.
Major countries of destination
for BD labor migrants, such as
Gulf and Southeast Asian
countries have become a
buyers market . Workers are
frequently
cheated
by
intermediaries.
They
are
exploited both at the origin and
destination countries at every
stage of migration.

Overseas
Employme
nt Policy
2006

Right to freely choose quality

employment
BD government commits to
reducing irregular flows and
increasing the scope of regular
migration.
Protect the right , dignity and
security of its workers within
and outside families
Consider misconduct in the
recruitment process as an act
against the national interest.
Vouches for the allocation of
greater resources to strengthen
existing
institutional infrastructure

Successive government hasnt

developed any comprehensive
action plan to implement this
policy yet. There is no
monitoring and evaluating
process built in to the policy.

Policy on
Female
migration

Since 1981, BD government has

imposed bans and restrictions
on the migration of low skilled
female workers .Government
relaxed restrictions on unskilled
and
semiskilled
female
migration
in
2003
with
continuous pressure from civil
society bo0dies.

Female migrants face several

problems in the country of
destination. In many cases,
female are confined to the
residence of the employers and
cant communicate with others.
they remain unreachable in
case of an emergency or threat

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Sex Trade from Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is a country of origin and transit
for men, women and children subjected to
trafficking in persons, especially forced labor
and forced prostitution. There is internal
trafficking within the country, but a large
proportion of trafficking is cross border. Many
border areas are frequently used as land routes
for trafficking .Human Rights groups in
Bangladesh estimate that 10-20000 women
and girls are trafficked annually to India,
Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United
Arab Emirates. A small number of women and
girls are trafficked through Bangladesh from

Map : International human trafficking route of BD

Burma to Myanmar. Women are recruited by private employment agencies to work as

domestic migrant workers in more affluent countries but they find out that they were
trafficked by deception once they arrive in their country of destination.

37

Estimate for

Human Trafficking For Bangladesh:38

SOURCE

NATURE AND EXTENT OF TRAFFICKING

BNWLA,1997(nationwide study)

13220 children trafficked out of Bangladesh in past

five years
300000 Bangladeshi children work in Indian Brothels
4500 Bangladeshi women and children trafficked to
Pakistan annually
4700 Bangladeshi children rescued from traffickers in
last 5 years.

UNESCO

sponsored

study

(conducted by Farid Ahmed) , 2000.

30000 women taken from Bangladesh and sold in the

previous decade

37

Article ; Huda, Sigma; Sex trafficking in South Asia ; Technical Support Secretariat , Dhaka ,
Bangladesh
38
Wahid, Zeenat Huda; Kabir, Humayun ; Khan , Touhid Hossain ; Globalization of Women
Trafficking and Sex Tourism in Bangladesh : A Neglected Discourse; Social Science Review [The
University of Dhaka]. Vol.30 , No.1 , June 2013

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UN Special Rapporteur on Violence

against Women , 2001 (based on

10,000 to 15000 Bangladeshi Girls and Women

trafficked across the border to India annually

estimate from NGO activists)

Government of Bangladesh , 19982004

2004 of whom 4700 children were recovered .

ECPAT International , 2006 (citing

an Aparajeyo Bangladesh and Child
Hope

13,220 cases of child trafficking between 1998 and

United

Kingdom

report

published in 2005 )

10,000 to 29000 child victims of commercial sexual

exploitation in Bangladesh ,
27000 Bangladeshi women and children forced into
prostitution in India ,
40000 Bangladeshi children forced into prostitution in
Pakistan
10,000- 20,000 BD women and girls trafficked

Sigma

Huda

(citing

unknown

sources )

annually to India, Pakistan and Middle Eastern

Countries.

BD has had laws on trafficking rights from 1983.Existing penal laws of BD based on the
philosophy of crime control rather than human rights based approach. The concept of
restorative justice is fully ignored in the counter trafficking penal legal framework. The
role of victims is restricted to that of informant witness for the prosecution, even though
s/he has suffered physical, emotional, psychological injury as well as financial and
property losses..

Constitutional protection and trafficking;

The constitution of Bangladesh deals specially with two forms of trafficking labor and
commercial sexual exploitation..
Article 34 (1) Prohibits all forms of forced labor
Article 18 (2) Places a duty on the state to adopt effective measures to prevent
prostitution
Article 31 of the constitution guarantees every citizen the right to enjoy the protection of
law wherever they maybe. The state is obliged to ensure the protection of internally and
extraterritorially.

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Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 was enacted for the sole
purpose of dealing with violence against women and children, including for commercial
sexual exploitation. It criminalizes trafficking for prostitution or other unlawful or
immoral purposes .The punishment provided is severe trafficking is punishable be death
or by life imprisonment between ten or twenty years. There is also section penalizing
sexual exploitation but the phase of sexual exploitation has not been defined.
Section 34 and 35 of Bangladesh Labor Code 2006 state no child will be required to
work in any profession or establishment and no parent or guardian can enter into a
contract of employment of a child
Emigration Ordinance 1982 s section 20 mentions that binding person to emigrate
withholding travel documents is unlawful , section 21 holds that fraudulently including
someone to emigrate is prohibited , section 23 states that receiving money for providing
foreign employment.
20A of Employment of women, young persons and Children Act, 1956 says children
(below 18) cannot be employed in hazardous occupation
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2009 section 2 states that money laundering as a
consequence of trafficking is prosecutable.

Challenges in prevention trafficking:

1) There is sometimes no adequate distinction drawn between trafficker and unsafe
migration without documents.
2) Some of unsafe migrants may not be treated as Bangladeshis by the country if
they dont have documents to prove it.
3) Licensing of recruitment agencies and their monitoring is not satisfactory .Illegal
immigration is often restored. Government took limited steps to regulate
fraudulent recruitment agents and their unlicensed subagents
4) Systems of referrals and identification of support staff and service providers or
authorities at different levels is absent.
5) Lacks of enforcement of law enforcing agency and Institutional weakness escalate
the opportunity of trafficking from BD.

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CHAPTER- 5

DATA ANALYSIS

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Case -01
Mrs .Salma Begum went to South Korea in 1997 when she was 30 years old. She was
taken as tourist by the recruiting agency, named Al-South Overseas. She spend about 2.5
lakh Bangladeshi Taka to go abroad in which about 10 lakh money was needed to go this
country legally . However, at first she reached in Thailand and passed a day. Next day she
arrived in South Korea. Her works was to cutting ice-berg. And working duration
included 8 to 10 hours (8 am to 7 pm). She worked without wage for 1 year because 1.5
arrears were paid after coming to abroad.

Case 02
Sejuti Islam went to Dubai in 2000. My family knows a person who takes people in
abroad. I come to him to go abroad because my husband is a homeopathic doctor and he
gets little money. On the other hand I have two sons but I cant feed them and cant able
to afford their education However, I go to abroad tailers department as a worker by two
lakh Bangladeshi TK. After arriving in foreign country my family known uncle takes me
in a flat. I see three women here whose are looked as housewives. I have no doubt about
my uncle because my family knows him. My uncle leave him in next day and I remained
here 2 days without no oppression but 3rd day a 35 40 years old women comes to me
and says I am bought by 5 lakh derham . I cant get rescue until I paid this money. I am a
victim of sexual exploitation. This a condition in which I am tortured mentally and
physically every time. My uncle promises me that he give3 me a job and I get it but this is
not dignified.

Case 03
Mrs Sejuti Islam was 23 years old when she went to Jordan in 2011. By Media Travel
Recruiting Agency and by about 2.50 lakh Bangladeshi money she went to Jordan as
domestic labor but actually she becomes a domestic slaver. Her husband was drug
addicted and she had two daughter and two sons. And these factors lead him to earn
money. She had family reputation, thats why she couldnt do anything in origin country.
However, about 6 months she was working but didnt get money. After that when she
claimed money, owner tortured her physically. Owner locked me and I couldnt able to
communicate with my family. I had two years visa. After 7 months I leave this house and

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Surrendered to police station. I filled a complaint against my owner and my owner gave a
return ticket to come Bangladesh.

FINDINGS:
A large proportion of cross border trafficking in Bangladesh is due to migration in search
of employment. Many Bangladeshi women migrate willingly to countries other than India
such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE etc. Recruiting agencies acting as
middlemen in such cases and there have been a number of cases of recruitment fraud
where such migrants are misled as to the terms of employment including payments. They
find themselves being forced to work without wages and sometimes face physical or
sexual abuse. Women work as domestic servants and often find themselves helpless if
there is violence against them. Most interesting is that no recruitment agency has been
prosecuted for trafficking related crimes.
Already BD government has taken some initiative against fraudulent migration. For
example, migration and Overseas Employment Act 2011 upholds the principle of nondiscrimination and makes provisions for emergency return of migrants in case of crisis in
destination country .It introduces the concept of renewal of license on the basis of
performance to reduce fraudulent practices and to ensure accountability of recruiting
agencies .It creates legal provision for functioning subagents. The recruiting agency is
liable if the subagents commit misconduct. Depart of Government send migrants
officially at low cost. BD government gives opportunity to go Malaysia by 40,000 TK.
Legal policy related recommendation includes
Employment and recruitment agencies must be closely monitored
There must be greater awareness at all stages of source , demand ant transit and
whistleblowers must be protected
Awareness building and community initiatives should be strengthen to prevent
trafficking and to ensure that unsafe migration will not take place.
The action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings adopted by OSCE contains a
number of measures recommended for adoption at the national level in order to prevent
trafficking in human beings.
Fostering of social, economic and political stability and the reduction both of
migration caused by deep poverty and of supply factors of trafficking. Policies

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Page 27

followed in pursuit of thee goals should also promote both economic development
and social inclusion.
Enhancing job opportunities for unskilled and semiskilled men and women by
facilitating business opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) .Organizing SME training courses and targeting them in particular at high
risk groups .
Implementing measures to reduce the invisibility of exploitation . Establishing a
multi agency programme of monitoring, administrative controls and intelligence
gathering on the labor markets and on the sex industry
Increasing employment opportunities for workers with a wide range of skill levels.
Addressing the problem of unprotected, informal and often illegal labor with a

view to seeking a balance between the demand for inexpensive labor and the
possibilities of regular migration.39

CONCLUSION:
Trafficking in Women for sexual exploitation or forced labor implicate a range of issues,
in particular the underprivileged legal and social position of its victims as migrants
women

in

irregular

situation.

Economic instability and issues like

increasing household expenditure,
price hike leads poor peoples
migration in search of work and
safety. Behind this, some crucial
factors like challenges in regular
labor

migration,

inadequate

protection in action against human

smuggling
between
women

escalates
illegal

this

link

migration

and

trafficking

from

Bangladesh . Any kind of exploitation in abroad refers to physical and metal losses
.Taking steps against it, reduction of poverty as well as establishes employment for
women along with men can play a vital role to stop illegal migration and women
39

www.osce.org/documents/pc/2005/07/15594_en.pdf

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trafficking. The government should commit adequate resources to the migration sector. .
Many labor receiving countries have projections and plans for future development
projects and concomitant labor needs. The Bangladeshi mission in Saudi Arabia,
Malaysia, the UAE and Kuwait should seek to draw the attention of concerned authorities
of the respective countries to the negative consequences of work visa manipulation on
both parties and urge them to take the necessary steps to halt this illegal practice. The cost
of migration can lead illegal attempts. Thats why it should be reduced .an advisory
committee should be established. This should act as an inter ministerial and interagency.
There is need to create an employment exchange bureau or to regulate the dalal system
.The BMET should concentrate on the regulation and monitoring specific programmes.
And experts bodies and civil society organization should organize consultation meetings
with local trade union to familiarize them with migrant workers issues in particular on the
exploitation of workers within Bangladesh during the migration processing phase and on
the nature of the violation of the human rights and labor rights of migrants workers in the
receiving countries.

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Page 29