Terming human trafficking a 'commercial issue', former adviser to the caretaker government and Executive Director of Ain O Salish Kendra Advocate Sultana Kamal said, "Trafficking now has become a world-wide phenomenon which is driven by globalisation. If the labour market were flexible, women and children would not have been victimised in such a massive scale."

She was addressing an 'Advocacy meeting at national level on prevention of human trafficking and reducing violence against women' as the chief guest. Mukti Nari-O-Shishu Unnayan Sangstha organised the advocacy meeting at National Press Club in the city with its Executive Director Mamtaz Rumi in the chair.

The organisation, an NGO that is based in Kushtia, Meherpur and Chuadanga, runs a shelter home for the rehabilitation of trafficked women and has built a network with other organisations for legal aid.

In her keynote speech, Sayeda Fayeeza Mamtaz, director of the organisation, depicted the grievances of the trafficked women and children and insisted on punitive actions against the criminals.

Citing the examples of ASEAN and EU countries where cross-border mobility has significantly increased, Advocate Sultana Kamal laid emphasis on regional advocacy in South Asia.

"Poverty remains the major driving force behind women and children trafficking and these segments of the community are sometimes lured by small criminal rings or organised gangs of traffickers," she said.

Participants from different NGOs pointed out a number of reasons behind human trafficking. The list was topped by negligence or leniency of the law enforcers to the traffickers.

Professor Ishrat Shamim, chairman, Centre for Women and Children, said, 'Things are clearly moving ahead'. She apprised the discussants of the monitoring cell in home ministry and police headquarters, who are keeping records of trafficking. She also cited some irregularities in documentation and said that the number of missing children is almost equal to the number of children who were trafficked.

Besides, she stressed on strengthening the monitoring and follow-ups involving village police and community since examples were not few where the trafficked women turn "traffickers".

Aroma Dutta, executive director of Prip Trust, said human trafficking got institutionalised in border areas because of people's lack of access to resources. She insisted on addressing the issue of 'organ trade' too.

Executive Editor of the daily Janakantha Borhanuddin Ahmed underscored the need for concerted efforts of the organisations that are working with the same motive and asked the bodies concerned to look into the matters relating to physically and mentally challenged women and children.

Taslimur Rahman, executive director, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Mohammad Kabir Hossain, secretary, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, also spoke on the occasion.