Nearly 50 police officials of Bangladesh Police have concluded a 12-day training programme on anti-human trafficking and victim support and management in Dhaka on Thursday.
The US Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), in partnership with the International Justice Mission (IJM), has been providing training since May 26 for nearly 50 police officials at the Edward M Kennedy Center (EMK Center) in Dhaka.
The training focuses on anti-human trafficking and victim support & management and ended Thursday, read a press release.
Chief Guest Golam Sarwar, secretary of the Ministry of Law & Justice Division, Special Guest Md Rafiqul Islam, judge of the Anti-Human Trafficking Tribunal Dhaka, Keynote Speaker Mohammad Ali Mia, BPM, PPM chief of CID, Pamella Masakhwi, head of global aftercare at IJM, and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Stephen Ibelli attended the programme.
This important training focused on providing first responders and police investigators with the essential skills and knowledge needed to appropriately investigate trafficking crimes, assist victims of human trafficking, identify human rights abuse, and track illegal money laundering practices.
It included international legal principles for victim support, appropriate victim/survivor interview techniques, and case study examples – supported by practical exercises – to round out the training programme.
The Bangladesh Police Force was well represented, with participation from many different units in the training, including Armed Police Battalion (APBn) – Uttara, Dhaka, Trafficking Human Being – Serious Crime – Organised Crime – Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Transnational Crime Division – Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTCU), Cyber Crime Division, CTTCU, Women Support and Investigation Division – Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, Chattogram Metropolitan Police, Rangamati District Police and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport – Immigration (Operations) – Special Branch (SB).
This training event was the second time in the last six months ICITAP and IJM have partnered together to support the Bangladesh Police and the victims of human trafficking, with future efforts looking to focus on the development of police trainers to build the long-term capacity of the Bangladesh Police and maintain sustainability for future efforts.
This unique partnership allowed ICITAP – whose international mission is to develop professional and transparent law enforcement institutions that protect human rights, combat corruption, and reduce the threat of transnational crime and terrorism – to team up with IJM, a global organisation that works to protect the poor from violence, rescue and rehabilitate victims of trafficking and ensure effective prosecution of offenders.
ICITAP’s current effort to combat human trafficking has been funded by the US Department of State’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Bureau, IJM is a charitable organisation supported through donations.
