Chunnu sees no shrinkage of legal migration channel

The state minister for labour and employment yesterday dismissed experts' observation that illegal migration from the country has increased because legal channels for going abroad for work have shrunk.

Mojibul Haque Chunnu said that when thousands of people went abroad legally, even then many resorted to illegal means due to low costs.

He said the government had taken several steps to stop human trafficking but it needed to do more.

“People are floating at sea. This is inhumane. It's not important whether they are Bangalee or Rohingya?” he told a roundtable, “Human trafficking: What measures should be taken to stop it.”

The daily Bhorer Kagoj and Debate for Democracy jointly organised it at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Several thousand people, many from Bangladesh, are believed to be stranded at sea close to Thailand, creating huge outcry regionally and internationally.

Chunnu said people should be made aware about illegal migration. The government cannot do that alone; everybody should come forward, he added.

In his keynote paper, Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran, chairman of Debate for Democracy, said incidents of human trafficking were on rise as the government could not create enough jobs inside the country.

He emphasised arrest of the human traffickers and their agents, joint initiatives of government and non-government organisations in creating awareness, and strict enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws.

Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamol Dutta said human trafficking was tarnishing the country's image. “This is a problem of the state, and the state should solve it.”

Communist Party of Bangladesh President Mujahidul Islam said the recent inhumane acts, revealed by the media, were worse than slavery.

Diraj Kumar Biswas, a victim from Rajbari, narrated how he was trafficked to Thailand and the suffering he endured for months. "I realised the pain of death...none of my brothers and friends should take the path.”