Cover Page

Law enforcement responses to human trafficking Cox's bazar district

# Introduction
Human trafficking is a rapidly evolving and clandestinely organized crime that
severely encroaches on

the fundamental human rights of its victims. Combating human trafficking is a

global challenge that

affects many millions of men, women and children. The goals of trafficking globally
are to trade

trafficking victims as commodities in order to generate profits. Bangladesh is a

source and transit

country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons,

specifically forced

labor and forced prostitution. A significant share of Bangladesh’s trafficking

victims is men recruited

for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers.

The Government of Bangladesh has been making sincere efforts to combat all forms of
trafficking in

persons. The Constitution of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh prohibits forced

and compulsory

labor, imposes a duty on the state to prevent and suppress prostitution and
guarantees a number of

fundamental rights. Also to address the SDG the Government of Bangladesh is

effectively engaged in

prevention and suppression of this crime.

Efforts of the Government of Bangladesh thus far have included enactment of the
specific law ÒThe

Prevention and Suppession of Human Trafficking Act,2012Ó, working in partnership

with national

non-government organizations and international non-government organizations and the

formulation of

the National Plan of Action 2015-2017 that focuses on providing a consolidated

framework for the

national response to internal and cross-border human trafficking in Bangladesh with

a zero tolerance

policy towards human trafficking. Bangladesh has made considerable strides in the
fight against human

trafficking; still there remains further room for coordinated and comprehensive
approach as this is a

global challenge. We hope that working hand in hand with NGOs and UN bodies will
help us to

transform our commitments to combat human trafficking into realities.

.....,...............

Migration of human beings started at the beginning of human civilization for

various purposes.

The twenty-first century witnesses fundamental changes in the pattern of mobility

and

migration of people creating hopes and high expectations some while at the same
time

frustrations and agonies for many others. Human trafficking has caused great
concern for the

Governments both in South Asia and extended in recent times to South East Asia
region.

Trafficking in persons has become a major social and political concern globally as
well as

nationally. It has also become the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the
world.

Bangladesh, having a huge population in a small land area, is notably affected by

the

organized crime of Trafficking in Persons. The crime of trafficking is mainly

committed

against persons who are socially and economically vulnerable. Economic

underdevelopment

generates huge exodus of men and women to affluent countries.

The Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, 2012 is an instrument to

restrain

the bridle of the perpetrators. The National Plan of Action 2015-2017 plays an
important role

to combat human trafficking. Bangladesh Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), RAB

along with other law enforcing agencies have been actively participating in the
government’s

collective effort on combating human trafficking for a long time with the special
preference

for rescuing women and children. In partnership with national and international
development

partners, the Government of Bangladesh is effectively engaged in prevention and

suppression

of this crime.
.................
Global trends of human mobility in and across borders have been changing due to
rapid

political, economic and social transformation of our world. Migration is a complex

but essential

force of development. While orderly migration creates hopes for people but generate
miseries

for those who fall victims of human smuggling and trafficking, two negative
outcomes of

migration. Growing concern over security issues including terrorism has added
significance

for international community in promoting safe migration and to combat human

trafficking.

Trafficking, smuggling and migration are separate, but interconnected issues.

Migration

mostly takes place through regular channels and may be freely chosen or forced upon
migrants

as a means of survival during a conflict, economic crisis or an environmental

disaster. If the

process of migration is irregular then the migrants are usually assisted by a

smuggler who

facilitate illegal entry into a country in exchange of a fee or benefit. The

smuggler usually

demand an exorbitant fee and may expose the migrant to serious dangers in the
course of their

journey, but on arrival at the destination, the migrants are free to make their own
way.

Trafficking is fundamentally different as it involves the movement of people for

the purpose

of exploiting their labour or services. Trafficking usually starts as recruitment

or movement,

and ends with abuse and exploitation. Human trafficking, a gross violation of human
rights

affects almost all regions and most countries of the world. Human rights violations
such as the

right to life, liberty and security; right to freedom of movement; right not to be
subjected to

torture and/or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment occur at different

stages of

the trafficking cycle. Therefore, it is a matter of deep concern to combat human

trafficking for

governments, human rights organizations and activists.

There was long debate on defining human trafficking. However, the widely agreed
definition

of human trafficking was incorporated into the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Sup-press
and Punish

Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children Crime (widely known as the

Trafficking/ Palermo Protocol), supplementing the United Nations Convention against

Transnational Organized. Since then, this definition has been incorporated into
many legal and

policy instruments as well as national laws.

Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish

Trafficking in Persons

defines Trafficking in Persons as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer,

harbouring 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 position of

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, at a

minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual

exploitation,

forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or

the removal of

organs." However, the consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended

exploitation given above shall be irrelevant where any of the means have been used
for the

recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the

purpose of

exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not

involve any of

the means and the child shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

Bangladesh is considered primarily as a source and to a lesser extent, a transit

and destination
of human trafficking. Quite a large number of Bangladeshi men and women who migrate
to

the Middle East to work in the construction, garments and domestic service sectors
are

subjected to forced labour. Many migrant workers have to pay exorbitant recruitment
fees imposed by unscrupulous labour recruitment agencies and their sub-agents.
Before their

departure, many migrant workers either sale their inherited lands and properties in
low price or

borrow money from neighbours, friends, family members and even from money lenders
with

high interest rate to pay recruitment fees. Those migrants who have to pay debts to
members

of their family, friends, and neighbours back home usually feel that they have no
alternatives

as they cannot return home without the money they owe.

Labour traffickers often make false promises of a high paid jobs or exciting travel

opportunities to allure innocent people into abusive working conditions. Victims

find that the

realities of their jobs are far different than promised. They frequently work long
hours for little

or no pay. Their employers exert such physical or psychological control including

physical

abuse, debt bondage, confiscation of passports and money that the victims believe
they have

no other choice but to continue working for the employers. Migrants are given the
impression

that if they go to the authorities they will be deported or prosecuted. Women who
mostly work

as domestic help are exposed to forced labour, abuse and sexual violence as they
are isolated in

houses, not allowed to go out and hardly have any contact with the outside world.

In Bangladesh, young girls and boys from impoverished families of the bordering
areas are

often lured by the agents of traffickers with opportunities of employment, marriage

and

sightseeing in the neighbouring countries. Majority of these young boys are sold at
the brick

fields and other industries while girls are forced into commercial sexual
exploitation and

prostitution. Traffickers pretend to be fiancé or often offer false marriages and

emotionally

blackmail girls to travel to neighbouring country for a better life. Although the
trust is being

broken but it takes sometimes for the girls to realize that they have been trapped
into trafficked

situation to be sexually exploited and sold into prostitution. While bonded and sex
labour

comprise the vast majority, forced begging and organ harvesting have also been
identified as

the endpoint of human trafficking. As victims enter without valid travel documents,
they

remain under constant threat of apprehension and deportation.

The human trafficking networks in the South East region are well organized and
ruthless.

Victims, primarily Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar along with aspirant migrants of

Bangladesh were forced on overcrowded ships that set sail in the Bay of Bengal on a
perilous

journey. Several hundred died from starvation, disease and abuse before reaching
their

promised destination. Moreover, instead of being released when they reached the
Thai-

Malaysian border, the refugees from Myanmar and migrants from Bangladesh were held

captive in inhumane detained camps in the jungles. The traffickers then demanded
ransoms

from their families back home. They often demand exorbitant fees for transportation
and then

extract even more by threatening them of physical torture or death. Even then safe
arrival in

promised destination is also not guaranteed.

Escaping from trafficking is extremely difficult and dangerous, putting the victims
at great

personal risk. If rescued, integration back into society is incredibly difficult

because of the shame,

stigma, threat of retribution and trauma experienced, especially in the case of

women and girls.

Women and children have a right to be protected from any forms of trafficking and
to be

treated with dignity. This requires a comprehensive anti-human trafficking strategy

embedded

in a human rights approach since violations of human rights are both the cause and

consequence of human trafficking. Such approach requires the systematic development

and

implementation of policies and programme that address the socio-economic,

political,

environmental and cultural factors which are the root causes of vulnerability to
trafficking at

the local, national, regional and international levels.

The Constitution of Bangladesh deals specifically with two forms of trafficking -
labour and

commercial sexual exploitation. In Article 34(1), all forms of forced labour are
prohibited, and

Article 18(2) places a duty upon the State to prevent prostitution. Article 31 of
the

Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to enjoy the protection of law
wherever they

may be. The implication of this provision is that to enjoy the protection of law it
is not

essential for a citizen to be in the territory of Bangladesh. In other words, the

state is obliged

to ensure the protection of law internally and extraterritorially. Therefore, the

obligation of

Bangladesh government for repatriation of trafficked victims is very much implied

in this

fundamental right provision of the Constitution of Bangladesh.

# Human Trafficking
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish

Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment,

transportation, transfer, harbouring 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 position of 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, at a minimum,
the

exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,

forced

labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the

removal of

organs.
# Bangladesh and Human Trafficking
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN BANGLADESH: AN OVERVIEW
Bangladesh is one of the source countries as well as transit points for human
trafficking. Every year thousands of people are trafficked out. In a study, it has
been found that among the trafficking victims, the women and the children are in
the most vulnerable position. From Bangladesh, around four hundred women and
children are trafficked out every month (Sultana 2015). All these victims are
abducted either for forced labor or for sexual exploitations.

This article aims to discuss the present phenomena of human trafficking in

Bangladesh. In the opening part of the article, the conceptual framework and the
global perspective of human trafficking have been looked into. In the later part,
the Bangladesh scenario and the gender and sex perspective of trafficking are
explained with recent data and information.

The definition of the term “trafficking” is still ambiguous. No agreed upon

definition on trafficking, from the international actors, has been found yet.
Different actors have defined the term “trafficking” from different perspectives.
All those definitions cover the ideas ranging from the facilitated as well as
voluntary migration to forced labor, coercion, exploitation of prostitution,
violence and movement of people from one place to another place influenced by
threat and force for specific exploitative means (Ruhi 2003).In comparison to
present perspective the classical interpretations of the term “trafficking” are
outmoded, vague and non-responsive (United Nations Economic and Social Council
2000).

The new perceptions of trafficking are extracted from the evaluation or the
assessment of the present requirements of persons – men, women and children – who
are trafficked. Therefore, the current definition should be well-defined to protect
as well as promote the human rights of the trafficked victims (Ruhi 2003).

The concept of trafficking is quite vigorous; the parameter of the term

“trafficking” is continually developing in response to the development or change of
political, economic and social conditions. The manner and the way of trafficking
changes from time to time, place to place and environment to environment but the
basic elements of trafficking remain constant. So the core of the definitions of
trafficking should be the recognition that it is not unified. It is different from
illegal forms of migration. All illegal form of migration is not trafficking, but
any kind of trafficking is illegal.

Human Trafficking in Bangladesh An Overview Figure 1

Human Trafficking: Global Perspective

Human trafficking along with arms business is the second largest criminal industry
in the world and the annual income for this is huge. Statistics shows that
globally, for labor and sex, a $150 billion annual market is earned by selling men,
women and children.

In a study, it has been found that a total of 31,766 victims were detected since
2010 to 2012. This information is collected from the trafficking victims of 80
countries of the various region of the World. The age, as well as the gender of the
victims, was reported at that study also. This study further shows that the share
of the males is increasing in comparing with the years 2006 and 2009. Child
trafficking, where the victims are under 18 years of old, is accounted more than
30% of the total victims during the two-year time period, 2010 and 2012 (UNODC
2014). (See the figure below)

Human Trafficking in Bangladesh An Overview Figure 2

Around 120,000 children and women who are trafficked from the other parts of the
world into the European Union Countries every year has a made a significant number
and showed the real picture of human trafficking (Osborn 2001). The information
shared by the US Department of State is more terrible. According to the US
Department of State, an estimation ranging, annually, 700,000 to 4,000,000 children
and women are trafficked worldwide (U.S. Department of State 2002)

In the South Asian region, while the share of child trafficking is very high in
Bangladesh, in Nepal, women remain in the top holding a significant percentage of
shares of the trafficking victims.

Human Trafficking: Bangladesh Scenario

In Bangladesh, human trafficking is one of the most money-making forms of
illegitimate enterprise. The high profit, as well as the low penalty nature of
human trafficking business, has made it more attractive to traffickers (criminal
gangs) and as well as very large-scale organized crime in Bangladesh (Chowdhury
2003).
Mohammad Jamil Khan, in one of his study, says that Bangladeshi migrants who are
looking for jobs in the UAE lost their hope coming to the Strait of Hormuz. A human
trafficking gang basing in Iran attract Bangladeshi people with assurance that they
will give them good jobs in Europe. They are kept captive when they are taken out
of the UAE and moved 39 kilometers away from the mainland and tortured there.
Unless the family of the captive sends money to them, they are tortured and even
killed also (Khan 2015).

It is very difficult to discover the exact data, because of the unwillingness of

the family member of the victims to share the exact information. From several
studies, it has been found that within, last thirty years over 1 million children
and women were smuggled out of the country. The current UNICEF report reveals that
around 400 children and women are trafficked in each month. Another report reveals
that approximately 3 lac Women and children who belong to the age between 12 to 30
years of old were smuggled to India alone from Bangladesh in the last decade. Some
of the Non-government organizations have compiled this estimation which has
increased the number to 500,000. The Pakistan-based Lawyers for Human Rights and
Legal Aid in one of its report published that around 200,000 women and girls who
are the nationals of Bangladesh were traded in Pakistan. Some other survey says
that the number of women and girls of Bangladesh in Pakistan is undocumented and it
will go over 250,000.

Bangladesh is a significant trafficking hub that links South Asia to Gulf region.
The principal route what the traffickers follow starts from Dhaka to Mumbai of
India, Karachi of Pakistan and then Dubai. Human traffickers use 20 transit points
located in 16 districts to smuggle people from Bangladesh to India (Corraya 2015).
Some other newly transit points have been discovered very recently to smuggle
people from Bangladesh to South –East Asian countries using water routes.

According to the UNHCR report within last 18 months, till to date a total number of
people 1.5 lac has been trafficked by boats and ships through The Bay of Bengal.
Within the first 3 months of 2015, approximately 25000 people, from the other parts
of the country, have been trafficked using Teknaf, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar Sadar and
Maheshkhali points. Recently, on June 2015, Bangladesh Coast Guard team has rescued
116 people from Bay of Bengal among whom 2/3 are 16 to 25 years of old.

In a TV program named Crime Watch, one of the most popular channels of Bangladesh
reports that a few officers of law enforcement agencies like Bangladesh police and
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have worked as the supporting hands of brokers of
human trafficking. To talk about the background of the human trafficking using
water route, the program further refers that human trafficking from Bangladesh to
Thailand by boat has started from 2003. In 2009, a huge number of people involved
themselves as the broker in this illegal work and the business boomed. In 2012,
human trafficking took a horrible scene with increasing number of points for
trafficking people using water routes of the country from the Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf,
Maheshkhali and Ukhia area (ntv Bangladesh 2015). Given that, all these information
have been revealed after the discovery of mass graves in Thailand.

On July 7, 2015, a total of 74 women have been handed over to BGB and Immigration
police officer of Bangladesh. While getting them back, a Human Rights Organization
“Rights” and Bangladesh Women Lawyer association were present there. The overall
study and documented statistics denote the magnitudes of the problems of the
present scenario of human trafficking in Bangladesh.

Human Trafficking: Understanding Sex and Gender

Globally, one among the five human trafficking victims is children. But in some
other areas like Africa or in the Greater Mekong, children form the majority of the
persons who are trafficked. They are exploited for child pornography and sex and
for forced begging.

Women make the significant share of the total trafficking victims. Two-thirds of
the world’s victims of human trafficking are women and they are formed with young
women aged from 11 to 25. Most of the cases these women are attracted with the
false promise of high salaried employment. Finally they are raped, drugged and then
imprisoned and beaten with violence and their passports are confiscated and in the
last moment blackmailed (UNODC 2015).

But in comparison to the percentage of women the percentage of male victims is

lower. The purposes of trafficking men and boys are making them forced labor,
forced begging and child soldiers. To some extent, they are trafficked for sexual
exploitation.

The linkage between trafficking and gender is one of the feminist arguments over
prostitution, sex and trafficking and the connection among these three. Most of the
feminists find a strong connection between sex or prostitution and trafficking and
they think that without overthrowing prostitution, trafficking cannot be addressed
(Global Alliance Against Traffick in Women 2010). So globally, almost all the
discussions around human trafficking focus on the woman and their sex work.
Although there are many things to think for out of this idea, but no one talks
about that.

Human Trafficking in Bangladesh: An Overview

Human trafficking is a profitable illegal business all over the world. It is not
only a national problem but also a global problem. This problem is spreading at an
alarming rate. The recent discovery of mass graves in Thailand has opened up the
eyes of the international organizations of the world although the effort from
Bangladesh government is limited.

The main reasons behind the increase rate of human trafficking in Bangladesh are
poverty, gender discrimination, social exclusion, lack of awareness, illiteracy,
and poor governance system. All these elements are directly or indirectly promoting
traffickers to get a significant space to open up the illegal enterprise so
rapidly.
Bangladesh sends a significant number of labors outside every year. But most of the
recruitments are done by agencies which lack proper accountability. This is another
reason, the trafficking business in the country is boosting up.

Bangladesh doesn’t have the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking,
but it has taken many significant efforts to make it so (U.S.State Department
2009). Bangladesh has addressed sex trafficking, but it is far away from addressing
the offenders of labor trafficking. For counter trafficking, the government of the
country has enacted The Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act 2012. It
has formed various committees and sub-committees as well for counter trafficking.
Currently, Ministry of Home Affairs has undertaken an initiative to address the
gaps of the existing legal framework. But that is not enough to prevent human
trafficking. The massive participation of the local people and the honest effort of
the government can end up this heinous crime from the country. The concerted effort
of the government with international agencies and NGOs is also necessary in this
respect to combating the problems.
# Cox's Bazar and Human Trafficking
Rohingyas particularly child and women are at the eyes of human traffickers.
According to Police officials

of Cox’s Bazar several groups are active in abduction of women and children and
trafficking them into abroad

particularly to Middle East countries as slave and sex slave (Al-Jazeera, 2019).
Therefore sometimes the

abductor also claims money instead of releasing kidnapped individuals. However,

some recent incidents of

kidnapping have added new tensions among the locals and travelers particularly to
woman and children.

Tourists nowadays have alleged not to have enough security measures on spots. The
accusation of abduction

rate has also been increasing alarmingly (The Independent, 2019). Experts urge the
government to take

initiatives immediately unless the situation goes out of control.

# Law Enforcement Responses to Human Trafficking
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Country Report, 2016

Combating Human Trafficking

Public Security Division

Ministry of Home Affairs

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh Police Headquarters (Special Crime - SC)

Human trafficking is an offence under the Bangladesh legal system. Complete
elimination of

human trafficking in Bangladesh is a difficult goal to attain. However, as a main

law

enforcement agency Bangladesh Police is playing a vital role to combat human

trafficking.

Bangladesh Police is responsible to implement The Prevention and Suppression of

Human

Trafficking Act 2012 as well as the National Plan of Action 2015-17. In Police
Headquarters

there is a Human Trafficking Monitoring Cell. The main function of this cell is to
collect

update information regarding TIP cases. This cell also coordinates with different
government

ministries and NGOs. Besides, there is District Monitoring Committee in all the
districts of

Bangladesh.

In 2016, a total number of 677 TIP cases were lodged in different police stations
of

Bangladesh. Out of these, 398 are still under investigation. Towards the end of
2016, there

were a total of 2,451 TIP cases under trial in different courts of Bangladesh. In
the lower

court, some 3 persons were convicted in one case while 72 persons were acquitted in
14 cases

up to 31 December 2016.

In the Bangladesh Police website, the data on human trafficking is being uploaded
regularly. A

web-based software “Crime Data Management System” is controlled by Police

Headquarters

where detail information about TIP cases, traffickers, victims, investigations etc
are preserved

and analyzed.

All the units of police are highly sensitized and working very hard against this
crime. Special

Branch is responsible for immigration clearance at the border checkpoints and the
immigration

officers are trained in this regard. The Special Branch has established the central
connectivity
between Special Branch Headquarters with other major airports and land check posts.

Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) Cell has also been set up in the Criminal
Investigation

Department (CID) which also investigates and monitors TIP cases.

To encounter the TIP cases and for the prevention of the crime by sensitizing and
raising

awareness of the people, Bangladesh Police emphasize the importance of the

following

aspects:

 Prevention: Police officers at the field level take part in mass awareness,
motivational

and sensitization programmes at different levels in the society including

educational

and religious institutions. They also participate in electronic media programmes,

seminars and workshops both at home and abroad. Training institutes of Bangladesh

Police have incorporated modules on TIP in different training curricula. As of

2016, a

total number of 29,889 police officers of different ranks were trained on TIP in
186

training programmes.

 Protection: In 2016, Bangladesh Police recovered and rescued 523 TIP victims
among

whom 523 were finally reintegrated with their families. Bangladesh Police has

established 8 Victim Support Centers (VSC) across the country. VSCs are located in

divisional headquarters with an additional in Rangamati Hill District.

Investigation,Prosecution and Rehabilitation: The statistics related to TIP for the

period January - December 2016 are given below:

......
Moreover, TIP Monitoring Cell at the Police Headquarters received some 69 summons/

warrants from DMP Magistrates and Sessions courts and carried out their duty of the
timely

appearance of some 102 witnesses before the competent courts.

......
Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

The status of the investigation cases of Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) in CID
for the

period January to December 2016 are given below:

.......
Special Branch (SB) Security Control Organization Wing (SCO)

In 2016 Security Control Organization Wing (SCO) of Special Branch, Bangladesh

Police

conducted inquiry, vetting and verification of different Bangladeshi nationals who

were

stranded at different countries, including other assigned duties and

responsibilities. During

January-December 2016, inquiry, vetting and verifications of Bangladesh nationals

conducted

by SCO wing are given below:

......
Security Control Organization Wing (SCO), Special Branch conducted inquiry, vetting
and

verification of 10,121 in 2016, while reports of 2,158 Bangladesh nationals are

still pending,

awaiting report from different units.

# Challenges
The border is not fully protected.
# Recommendations
A new batallion of police force may be established.
Increase law enforcements understanding of human trafficking. Though the

crime recently has received public attention, some respondents reported that they
still

were not fully informed about the issue. By increasing awareness, law enforcement
will

continue to identify areas in which they need support, assistance, and information
to

better identify this crime and respond to its victims.

Increase understanding of law enforcement’s role in a human trafficking

case. Law enforcement has a crucial role to play in any human trafficking case. The
data

clearly suggested the need for more information on the roles of all law enforcement
in the

investigation of trafficking cases. Additionally, the role of law enforcement in

helping

victims of human trafficking should be addressed Respondents indicated that law

enforcement could benefit greatly from a better understanding of the law

enforcement
endorsement process and how the endorsement may affect the lives of human
trafficking

victims.
Develop, refine, and share law enforcement specific protocols for identifying

human trafficking victims and response techniques. Respondents indicated that they

were benefiting from human trafficking protocols in their daily law enforcement
work.

Ensuring the availability of such protocols across the law enforcement community
would

likely enhance investigators’ and line officers’ ability to detect a trafficking

situation and

improve their ability to work effectively with trafficking victims.

Increase collaboration among law enforcement (Federal, State, and local),

prosecutors, and victim service providers. Working collaboratively with other

agencies was important to address human trafficking adequately and meet the needs
of

victims. Through formal memoranda of understanding, data and information sharing

protocols, and sharing policies, practices, and procedures, agencies can begin to
learn the

boundaries of their work, the work of others, and areas where they overlap.

# Woks Cited
TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, traffickers exploit domestic

and foreign victims in Bangladesh, and traffickers exploit

victims from Bangladesh abroad. Traffickers exploit some

Bangladeshi men, women, and children who migrate willingly

to work in the Middle East, Southern and East Africa, South and

Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States in forced labor.

An international organization estimates more than 700,000

Bangladeshis migrate for work each year through illegal channels

and are vulnerable to traffickers. Before departure, many migrant

workers assume debt to pay high recruitment fees, imposed

legally by recruitment agencies belonging to BAIRA and illegally

by unlicensed sub-agents; this places migrant workers at risk of

debt-based coercion. Some recruitment agencies, agents, and

employers also commit recruitment fraud, including contract

switching, in which they promise one type of job and conditions

but then change the job, employer, conditions, or salary after

arrival; this includes promising women and children jobs and

exploiting them in sex trafficking upon arrival. During the

reporting period, Vanuatu authorities identified more than

100 Bangladeshi male forced labor victims in construction

and administration allegedly recruited by the same company

between March 2017 and August 2018. Women and girls

who migrate for domestic work are particularly vulnerable to

trafficking. Traffickers have sold some women who migrated

through Bangladeshi recruitment agencies to Lebanon or Jordan

for domestic work into forced labor and sex trafficking in Syria.

Some Chinese men exploit Bangladeshi women in domestic

servitude and sex trafficking through arranged marriages. Some

traffickers falsify identity documents to make children appear

older than age 18 to send them abroad. Saudi Arabia and

Malaysia deported hundreds of undocumented Bangladeshi

workers during the reporting period, some of whom employers

had coerced into forced labor due to their irregular status, or

for whom employers had allowed documents to expire.

Bangladesh hosts more than one million undocumented

Rohingya in refugee camps and host communities in Cox’s

Bazar near the Burmese border and other parts of the country,

approximately 700,000 of whom arrived after August 2017.

Traffickers exploit Rohingya men, women, and children from

refugee camps for both sex and labor trafficking, including

domestic servitude, although the scale is unknown, including

in comparison to the local host community. The Bangladesh

government has allowed significant humanitarian access to the

Rohingya camps and cooperates closely with UN and NGOs

in counter-trafficking efforts. Traffickers sometimes transport

Rohingya girls within Bangladesh to Chittagong and Dhaka and

transnationally to Kathmandu and Kolkata for sex trafficking;

some traffickers “trade” these girls over the internet. Some

Rohingya traffickers defraud and coerce Rohingya women

and girls from refugee camps into sex trafficking through

fraudulent job or marriage proposals, and abduction. Local

criminal networks take Rohingya women from refugee camps

at night, exploit them in sex trafficking, and bring them back

to the camps during the day. International organizations

allege some Bangladeshi border guard, military, and police

officials facilitate trafficking of Rohingya, including accepting

bribes from traffickers to gain access to camps. Rohingya girls

and boys are recruited from refugee camps to work as shop

hands, fishermen, rickshaw pullers, and domestic workers

in Bangladesh. Some Bangladeshi fishermen use debt-based

coercion to exploit Rohingya men if they place their shelter

on the fishermen’s land. Some Rohingya men who fled to

Bangladesh from Burma decades ago have been trapped in

forced labor through debt-based coercion to Bangladeshi

fishermen for 20 years. In the recent past, some traffickers sold

into forced labor Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, who

traveled by boat to Southeast Asian and could not pay ransoms.

The stateless status and inability of Rohingya to receive formal

schooling or work legally increases their vulnerability to human

trafficking. Multiple NGOs and humanitarian officials assess

these restrictions have increased forced labor and sex trafficking

of Rohingya over the past year. Bangladeshis and foreigners

create demand for child sex tourism, including exploitation

of Rohingya girls near Cox’s Bazar.

Within the country, traffickers exploit Bangladeshi children and

adults in sex trafficking and forced labor, including domestic

servitude and bonded labor, in which traffickers exploit an initial

debt assumed by a worker as part of the employment terms.

Traffickers further exploit children in forced labor in fisheries,

aluminum and garment factories, and dry fish production.

Traffickers use false promises of work to lure poor women and

children into sex trafficking. In some cases, traffickers force sex

trafficking victims to become addicted to drugs and use drug

addictions to keep them in sex trafficking and forced criminality.

Child sex trafficking remained widespread. Traffickers coerce

street children into criminality or force them to beg, and

begging ringmasters sometimes maim children to increase

their earnings. Bangladeshi children are vulnerable to forced

labor in tanneries. According to an international expert on

debt bondage, traffickers subject Bangladeshi families and

Indian migrant workers to bonded labor—a form of forced

labor—in some brick kilns; some kiln owners sell bonded

females into prostitution purportedly to recoup the families’

debts. Some traffickers exploit Bangladeshi families in debt

bondage in shrimp farming. Traffickers force ethnic Indian

families to work in the tea industry in the northeastern part of

the country. NGOs allege some officials allow human traffickers

to operate at brothels, at India-Bangladesh border crossings,

and at maritime embarkation points.