Govt-NGO efforts needed to stop child trafficking
Long-term project and integrated efforts of the government and non-government organisations are needed to stop child trafficking, speakers said at a seminar yesterday.
They also stressed the need for forming community interventions team awareness forum or watch committee comprising border guards, union parishad and NGO to stop child trafficking in the bordering areas as most of the trafficking incidents take place in the areas.
They also stressed conducting a national survey on child trafficking for getting authentic statistics on trafficking as well as formulating an action plan.
With the support of Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) organised the seminar titled "Combating child trafficking: Context Bangladesh citizen's role" at Biam Foundation in the city.
Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder in his speech as the chief guest urged the non-government organisations to come forward to address the issue as it is difficult for only the government to deal with it.
He said media can play an important role in creating awareness among the people about women and child trafficking.
Quoting a study of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA), Dr Mohammad Shahjahan, secretary general and executive director of Bureau of Human Rights Bangladesh in his keynote speech said around 25000 women and children are trafficked out of the country every year.
Children from rural and slum areas are mostly victims of trafficking due to lack of social security and poverty, he mentioned in his keynote paper.
Additional Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary said a total of 661 cases have been in the last five years in connection with the child trafficking and of them, 344 were disposed of.
A total of 233 people were convicted while 172 were awarded life-term imprisonment and eight people were sentenced to death, Javed said.
He said not only the law enforcement agencies but also the people from all strata of life should come forward to deal with the issue as women and child trafficking is a social problem.
Mahmudul Kabir, country director of Terre des Hommes Netherlands, urged the government and organisations concerned to help address the internal trafficking as a large number of women and children are being forced into prostitution and other illegal activities in the country.
BSAF Director Kafil Uddin moderated the seminar with Anwar Kamal, executive director of Unnayan Shahojogy, in the char. Around 25 NGO representatives participated in the seminar.
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