Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said that many foreigners are languishing in Bangladeshi jails even after serving their terms as their home countries seem uninterested to take them.
The minister told a conference in Dhaka on Saturday that 495 nationals of different countries are now in Bangladesh jails.
Among the foreign prisoners, 57 have been convicted in different cases, Kamal said.
“Another 86 were acquitted from charges in trial. But their home countries are not showing any interest to receive them. So they are stuck in jails,” he added.
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a regional conference titled "Combating Trafficking: Repatriation of Victims of Trafficking" organized by the National Human Rights Commission at a Dhaka hotel on Saturday.
“Like these people, many Bangladeshis are now in prisons in other countries. The government is trying to bring them back under relevant legal frameworks.”
The home minister said that patterns in human trafficking had changed over the years.
“Trafficking used to occurred forcibly due to demand of labour. Now traffickers lure women with the promise of jobs and traffic them,” he said.
“We do not have any data on how many people are being trafficked by force and how many through such traps. However, trafficking through deception is gradually going down,” he said, adding that the government was working hard to raise awareness among people against such traps.
“Almost 80% of the people who are trafficked through maritime routes are Rohingya refugees,” the minister said.
