The Anti-Human Trafficking Special Committee of police headquarters has found that those involved in money laundering in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia are also playing a key role in human trafficking, which marked an alarming increase on sea routes recently.
The four-member committee headed by Chittagong Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (crime and operation) Banaz Kumar Majumder submitted its report yesterday.
The report contains the names of 11 international human traffickers, and 230 Bangladeshi traffickers as well as 26 money launderers in Bangladesh who are also engaged in human trafficking.
In the context of trafficking, those who take money from prospective migrants are called money launderers.
The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of the report, where the committee also made recommendations to stop such crimes. Suggesting legal actions against money launderers of the four countries, the committee recommended setting up water police units at the 60km border in Teknaf and the 20km border in Ukhia to stop illegal Rohingya influx and human trafficking.
The committee suggested increasing police vigilance at Shah Porir Island as it found that the island is a hotbed of human trafficking. A police monitoring cell was suggested to expedite under-investigation human trafficking cases. It was found that some Bangladeshi expatriates in Thailand and Malaysia are involved in trafficking and the committee recommended legal actions against them.
The committee recommended forming area-based anti-human trafficking committees as it found that 60 coastal points are used by traffickers, who operate in 41 districts.
The traffickers were found to have formed a large group of agents comprising locals and Rohingyas, who lure people into believing that migrating to Thailand and Malaysia was easy and cheap.
The committee said some dishonest law enforcement agency officials protect traffickers by taking bribes. It also assumed that Myanmar’s navy and coastguard officials might provide food, fuel and security for the traffickers. According to the report, a total of 3,793 people were rescued from Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong in the last five years while 276 cases were lodged against 1,589 people. The cases, however, did not proceed as the majority of the victims are poor and are scared about continuing legal proceedings against the traffickers.
The committee found that trafficking increases at an alarming rate between November and April as the sea largely remains calm in that period.
