Terming human trafficking a regional problem, members of civil society have urged the government to discuss this issue at the international level with the cooperation of United Nations immediately.
Speakers of Sushashaner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) made this call at a round-table discussion held yesterday morning at the capital’s National Press Club.
They demanded exemplary punishment of human traffickers and immediate rescue of those stranded at sea.
The discussion followed a keynote presentation by SHUJAN Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar; the round-table was presided over by its President M Hafiz Uddin Khan.
Stina Elisabeth Ljungdell, country representative of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), SHUJAN’s executive member Ali Imam Majumder, Dr Hamida Hossain, Syed Abul Maksud, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Dhaka University professor Dr CR Abrar and others participated in the discussion.
Abul Maksud said: “This is a regional problem so our government should hold talks with the international communities to mitigate it.”
“We do not even know what the actual scenario is of the migrants stranded at sea and buried in the mass graves of Thailand and Malaysia. The government has to explain this immediately,” he added.
According to the UNHCR, around 25,000 people have made the journey through Bay of Bengal in the first three months of 2015. Among these, 40 to 60% were from the Rakhain province of Myanmar.
Stina Ljungdell said: “We have to be realistic to tackle the problem. A regional solution is needed. The solution should be not just for now but sustainable.”
“Top trafficking leaders and the whole trafficking network should be taken down,” she added.
“We have to concentrate on why Bangladeshis are being trafficked. The state is failing to fulfill their [migrants] basic needs,” said Rizwana Hasan.
Badiul Alam Majumdar in his key note speech said the rate of legal migrant workers have been decreasing since 2009 and it resulted in lesser remittance.
“Illegal migration is a threat to legal migration too,” he added.
Dr CR Abrar said a large number of people are still below the poverty line, though it is decreasing. This inequality is also a reason behind the increased human trafficking.