Arrest big fish

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has advised law enforcers to arrest the big fish who are at the centre of various crimes, including human trafficking, and are well connected with the power structure.

“I am asking law enforcement agencies to investigate and arrest those who are millionaires and who remain out of the scene,” he told a national dialogue yesterday.

These people may avoid arrest through establishing connections with politicians and influential people if the crime is publicised in the media beforehand, the CJ said, adding that they made huge black money through various criminal activities, including human trafficking.

If making of black money cannot be checked, corruption or crimes like human trafficking cannot be stopped, he noted.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) on HIV/AIDS, Human Trafficking, Population and Migration, and Human Rights organised the dialogue on the recent human trafficking through sea at the city's Sonargaon Hotel.

Ministers, some two dozen MPs, secretaries, top officials of law enforcement agencies and civil society members were present at the programme and expressed concerns over the trafficking of Bangladeshi citizens.

The discovery of mass graves and human skeletons -- believed to be of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis -- in Thai and Malaysian borders since early May drew huge international attention.

According to the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), about 88,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis took the sea journeys from the coasts, and some 1,050 of them died or remained missing since January last year till March this year.

After months of drifting in the sea, at least 5,354 boatpeople landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in May-June this year. Of them, 1,568 were identified as Bangladeshis and are being repatriated, IOM chief of mission Sharat Das told the dialogue.

Lack of jobs at home, limited opportunities for regular migration, weak law enforcement and existence of pervasive smuggling and trafficking networks were identified as major factors behind human trafficking through sea.

Speakers said law enforcement must be strengthened to prevent this.

Rapid Action Battalion Director General Benazir Ahmed said Bangladesh has a very comprehensive law against human trafficking. Some 600 to 700 cases are filed every year, but only 40 to 50 are settled. Some cases go on for years.

Some lawmakers requested the chief justice to look into why many cases are stayed by the High Court.

In response, the CJ said police investigation and prosecution system remained quite faulty, which is why many cases were stayed.

He also said partisan people were often employed as public prosecutors, who had limited knowledge of laws and could not speak in court. “Lawyers concentrate more on money, not the law.”

Referring to the Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act 2012, he said the law talked about special tribunals, but the judiciary was not consulted about it.

National Human Rights Commission Chairman Dr Mizanur Rahman said Bangladesh's overseas labour market was controlled by the “political syndicate,” and the government seemed to be failing in checking irregularities in the private sector.

As a result, other countries like India, Nepal and the Philippines are taking over Bangladesh's overseas labour market, he observed.

TIM Zahid Hossain of Partners in Population and Development said people from Bangladesh were going abroad not only for poverty. So, a full hearing on the issue at parliament was needed and experts could be invited to share their insights.

AKM Musa, Bangladesh country director of Concern Worldwide, said people from certain pockets -- haors, chars, river erosion-hit areas and coastal areas -- seem to take the risky sea voyage in large numbers. Special attention should be given to these areas.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali said human traffickers were taking advantage of the Rohingya problems and some Bangladeshis were also falling victim.

Job creations at home by increasing investment, among other things, can help prevent human trafficking, he added.

Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Mia chaired the dialogue while Dipu Moni, former foreign minister and also chairperson of APPG on Human Rights, moderated it.