Stakeholders should join hands to combat trafficking: Webinar

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday said trafficking in persons is a serious human rights violation and the fight against trafficking and smuggling of migrants requires multi-stakeholder engagement.

He said the government of Bangladesh has zero tolerance policy on this and is actively taking steps to fight this horrific crime.

The Foreign Secretary was addressing a webinar marking the World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2021.

The webinar was organized by the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Technical Working Group (CTIPTWG) under the Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration (BDUNNM) to commemorate World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2021.

The “Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants - Bangladesh (GLO.ACT-Bangladesh)” project, which is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by UNODC and IOM, supported to organize the event.

UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Mia Seppo said the COVID-19 is presenting new challenges to the protection of migrants, and it is widely known that the pandemic impacts men, women, and children, including adolescents, differently.

“To combat the scourge of trafficking in persons, all stakeholders must join hands and work together,” she said.

This year’s theme of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, “Victims’ Voices Lead the Way” puts victims of human trafficking at the centre of the campaign and highlights the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking.

To mark the day, representatives from the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), members of the Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration (BDUNNM), partners from civil society and the private sector met in the virtual webinar.

The webinar shared the key messages from survivors of human trafficking and highlighted the risks faced by an estimated 700,000 Bangladeshis who choose to migrate abroad every year.

Vulnerable migrants are often the target of traffickers and find themselves in situations that can result in debt bondage, forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced marriages and other forms of modern slavery.

It is documented that Bangladesh is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and child victims of human trafficking.