U.S. puts Bangladesh on trafficking blacklist

DHAKA, June 18 (OneWorld) - In a report released this week, the US state department placed Bangladesh in a list of ten countries that have made no effort to curb international sex trafficking, warning that those who fail to better their record by October may face non-trade sanctions. Other countries included in the list are Ecuador, North Korea, Venezuela, Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Guyana and Sudan. Bangladesh was the only new entrant to the black list. The US warns that unless governments demonstrably improve their records to combat trafficking by October, they will be subjected to sanctions like cutoffs in non-humanitarian and non-trade-related US aid. The report estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 victims of human trafficking are transported across international borders each year from across the world. Traffickers rake in US $5-7 billion from the trade. The US report maintains tens of thousands of trafficked children are forced to serve in government armies, armed militias, and rebel groups. The problem is most critical in Africa and Asia, but armed groups in the Americas, Eurasia, and the Middle East also use children. "Some children have been used for suicide missions or are forced to commit atrocities against their families and communities. Others, including some of the 15,000 involved in recent Liberian conflicts, are made to serve as porters, cooks, guards, servants, messengers, or spies. Many child soldiers, mostly girls, are sexually abused," it adds. The report, which contains data on human trafficking of 140 countries, puts 25 countries in Tier 1 for best legal and administrative practices against this crime, 54 countries in Tier 2 for medium practices and 42 in the Tier 2 watch-list for weak practices. The last ten countries are placed in Tier 3 where government plays no role in fighting the crime. Till this year, Bangladesh used to be treated as a Tier 2 nation. But corruption of law enforcement agencies and weak governance has pushed the impoverished country further down. The report released by US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, identifies Bangladesh as a source country from where an estimated 10-20,000 women and girls are trafficked annually to India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and debt bondage. A small number of women and girls are trafficked through Bangladesh from Burma to India. Bangladeshi boys are also trafficked into the UAE and Qatar and forced to work as camel jockeys and beggars. Women and children from rural areas in Bangladesh are trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic work. Police officials are known to facilitate trafficking of women and children, though none has ever been charged or arrested. Bangladesh should take greater steps to address government corruption and prosecute officials who are involved in trafficking, the US report says. Bangladeshi human rights organizations have been saying for a long time that poverty is the prime factor which helps traffickers to smuggle women and children out of Bangladesh. In a study, The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) says more than 200,000 Bangladeshi women were victims of human trafficking in the past decade. They were smuggled into neighboring Pakistan with most ending up in the sex trade. Many of them were minors or children. "Smuggling of women has reached an alarming level in Asia," remarks chief of the Coalition, Sygma Huda. Advocate Salma Ali of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) that often provides protection to rescued trafficking victims says that, "According to our estimate at least 7,000 to 10,000 women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh every year." She emphasizes that,"Routes for trafficking are ever changing and a tripartite agreement among Bangladesh and India and Pakistan is crucial to combat trafficking from Bangladesh." In a study, the BNWLA blames poverty, illiteracy, landlessness, over-population and low levels of income for the rise of human trafficking. Organised gangs of traffickers lure their poor victims away with prospects of job opportunities. The study reveals about 22 per cent of the female children trafficked belong to the 13-16 years' age group, a reality that indicates higher demand for adolescent girls. According to another study by Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploration of Children; 69 per cent of the victims are females, while 51 per cent belong to the 11-18 age group, 52 per cent are illiterate or can only sign their names and 81 per cent are from the poor class. Human rights activist Ishtiaque Ahmed who witnessed camel racing in Dubai, says, "A considerable number of male children, victims of trafficking, were leading a miserable life there." Women and Children Affairs Minister Khurshid Zahan Haque puts the official human trafficking number at only 708 women and children since 2000 till last April. But she says the government is not ignoring the US report. Two new projects have already been launched in the light of the report. "Our government vows prevention of this heinous crime at any cost," she promises, adding that a high level anti-trafficking national committee will be established soon to act at regional, national and international levels. Overseas Employment Minister Quamrul Islam adds that to check female trafficking in guise of overseas employment, the government will enforce a new rule making it mandatory for any woman going abroad to work, to obtain approval from the ministry. The Bangladesh government Thursday announced that it will set up anti -trafficking cells at all district and administrative units from July 1. "The step will help us check alleged trafficking in women and children and ensure safety and security of the women and children," says Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shahudul Hoque.

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