Despite widespread publicity about the large number of people from Bangladesh left stranded at sea by people-smugglers, human trafficking syndicates are still operating openly in the country.
A concerted international effort is needed to disrupt and close down this callous trade. The impunity with which officials in different countries have allowed them to operate, must be brought to an end.
The government must also make more efforts to address the root causes which drive people seeking work abroad, to fall prey to smuggling syndicates.
While many are tricked by con-men, it is also the case that people volunteer to be smuggled in search of employment, and often end up risking their lives on hazardous journeys with very little prospect of legal employment at the other end.
Improving inter-governmental co-operation to properly facilitate the legal recruitment and transport of Bangladeshi citizens seeking work overseas, is essential to help drive the criminal syndicates out of business.
We do not doubt that this is a long-term problem which needs long-term solutions. As the long delays in issuing machine readable passports for millions of Bangladeshis working abroad have shown, official efforts to help even legal migrants, have often been woefully inadequate.
The government must step up to take more responsibility. Remittances are vital to our economy. It is in the national interest for it to set up a tightly regulated framework to facilitate and grow the legal export of labour.
In addition, the government must also increase investment in skills training. This would have the twin benefit of both enabling more workers to seek better jobs at home, and making more legal Bangladeshi migrants attractive to labour-importing nations.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
