NHRC chairman demands action against human trafficking godfathers

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque on Saturday said the government needs to identify at least 25 godfathers of human trafficking and bring them to trial. He suggested that the government make a shortlist of 25 top “godfathers” of human trafficking and capture them, rather than “just making a list of 500 or 1000 human traffickers with very little action against those criminals.” The NHRC chairman made the comments while speaking at the BRAC Centre Inn, at a consultation meeting on the eve of World Day against Trafficking in Persons. He said: “It is true that we have an excellent law formulated in 2012. About the same time, a law was also passed against money laundering. However, the question on the extent of their proper implementation certainly remains.” “According to police, only 30 convicts have been given life imprisonment so far out of 3500 human trafficking cases,” he added, pointing out that many accused escape punishment due to flaws in police reports. “When visiting Cox’s bazaar, the prime minister personally ordered that drug dealers, human traffickers and Arms traffickers be caught, but still the godfathers haven’t been brought under the trial,” Reazul Haq said. The NHRC chairman also stressed that, regardless of how the trafficking occurred, the state still had to take responsibility to protect human rights. Professor of International Relations at Dhaka University CR Abrar, also executive director of the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), said: “We must keep in mind that human traffickers both in country and abroad are a highly powerful coterie. We have to have sufficient preparation to bring them to book.” Expatriate Welfare Additional Secretary Jabed Ahmed said: “Reducing the cost of migration is still the biggest challenge. When someone migrates by spending an excessive amount of money, they may become irregular in the attempt to recover expenses.” He added that strong coordination between the Home Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, commercial aviation and other relevant ministries was required to prevent human trafficking.