Bangladesh still lacks standards

The United States said lack of enforcement of law and institutional weaknesses in Bangladesh were to blame for continued trafficking of Bangladeshi migrant workers abroad.
“Bangladesh is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking,” according to the 2013 Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) report of the US State Department released in Washington DC on June 19.
It said Bangladesh does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
According to the report, the government drafted rules to implement the 2012 Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act (HTDSA) and began prosecuting cases under the law.
It said the government took limited steps to regulate fraudulent recruitment agents and their unlicensed subagents. Inadequate trafficking victim protection remained a serious problem.
As per the report, Bangladesh has failed to improve its status in last one year as the country retains its 2012 position and remains in Tier-2 of the three-tier system.
In 2012, Bangladesh improved its status and reached Tier-2 from Tier-2 Watch List in 2011.
The report said some of the Bangladeshi men and women who migrate to the Gulf, Maldives, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Europe, and elsewhere for work subsequently face conditions indicative of forced labor, such as threats of force, physical or sexual abuse.
Quoting a civil society group report, it said that some Bangladeshi men in the Gulf, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, are vulnerable to being subjected to forced labor in other countries, including Greece and Spain.
Some women and children from Bangladesh are transported to India and Pakistan, where they are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. Some in the Rohingya community in Bangladesh have been subjected to human trafficking.
The US report recommended finalising, adopting and disseminating the implementing rules for the HTDSA, and training government officials including law enforcers, labor inspectors, and immigration officers on its implementation.
It suggested taking steps to sharply reduce all recruitment fees charged by licensed labor recruiters, and enforcing violations with criminal sanctions; increasing efforts to prosecute trafficking cases and convict trafficking offenders.
The report asked to improve oversight of Bangladesh's international recruiting agencies to ensure they are not promoting practices that contribute to labor trafficking; provide support services for adult male trafficking victims and victims of forced labor.
It said Bangladeshi embassies in destination countries should shorten the time required for victims to receive documentation required for repatriation, and establish a toll-free labor exploitation hotline accessible by cell phone to facilitate victim identification.
Being in Tier-2 means Bangladesh do not fully comply with the minimum standards of US Trafficking Victims Protection Act but is making significant efforts to that end.