Preying on people’s misery

The investigative story on human trafficking published on the front page of this daily yesterday only goes to show the adaptability and shrewdness of criminals and gangs involved in trafficking, who will apparently go to any length to conduct their business. Due to increased vigilance of law enforcement officials along the border points of the district of Jashore, which have long been used as routes for human trafficking, criminals have come up with a slew of innovative strategies to deceive law enforcers and carry on with their business. These new tactics include posing as a couple at the checkpoints, with the help of fake marriage certificates and passports, to get across the border to India, and making underage girls pose as the children or siblings of the traffickers by producing fake documents and passports.   

Unsurprisingly, each of the border points is reportedly controlled by local ruling party men who dole out cash to law enforcers to buy their silence and cooperation. But despite this open secret of the involvement of law enforcers and people using political identity, there seems to be almost a reluctance to clearly acknowledge this fact or perhaps it is a lack of knowledge about the issue—both of which are worrying. The commander of the BGB could not give a direct reply when asked about the involvement of ruling party men, and an additional police superintendent of Jashore did not have any information about the involvement of law enforcement officials.

The government needs to immediately address the problem of human trafficking taking place along the Jashore border and elsewhere in the country. In this particular case, the powerful nexus operating behind the scenes must be broken, and the local ruling party men involved, along with law enforcers in cahoots with them and others, must be identified and brought to book. Thorough investigations need to be carried out so that the details of how the nexus operates are revealed. Furthermore, vigilance at the border points has to be strengthened. We also need vigorous campaigns to raise awareness about human trafficking like elsewhere in the world.