Trafficking To Malaysia: Victims made to walk thru jungles, wade canals
Traffickers use route involving four countries
A so-called broker in Dhaka promised Rasal Miah he would be taken to Malaysia and given a job at a construction site.
Rasal was assured of being flown to Malaysia via Vietnam. Convinced by the broker's words, the 30-year-old from Madaripur's Shibchar struck a Tk 4 lakh deal with broker Rafiq Kha, owner of a travel agency in Dhaka.
Rasal boarded a plane at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on December 17 last year. Three days later, he informed his wife Shahida Akhter over the phone that he was detained in Thailand, said Shahida.
"We were forced to travel to Cambodia and sneak into Thailand by walking for hours through a deep forest and wading through shoulder-deep water in some canals."
He along with 14 other Bangladeshi job seekers ended up in jail in Thailand's southern province Songkhla on December 20 after immigration police arrested them while they were being taken to Malaysia border on a truck.
Rasal and nine others returned to Bangladesh on January 31 after paying fines imposed by a Thai court.
"I was taken to Vietnam via Kolkata. Then the broker's men arranged Cambodian visas for us. We were forced to travel to Cambodia and sneak into Thailand by walking for hours through a dense forest and wading through shoulder-deep water in some canals," Rasal told this correspondent on Thursday.
The 15 Bangladeshis were then forced to get on a small truck that drove for 22 hours before being intercepted by immigration police 30km off Malaysian border, Rasal said.
He said he had been in Malaysia for 11 years where he worked as a welding technician. He was desperate to return to the Southeast Asian country as he was struggling to run his four-member family.
Speaking to The Daily Star recently, Jannat Begum, mother of another arrestee, 23-year-old Md Abu Sazzat from Cox's Bazar, said, "I fell sick after hearing about my son's arrest in Thailand."
She said a broker charged his son Tk 4 lakh, but could not give details.
Sazzat was on his first trip to Malaysia where his elder brother is working, she added.
According to Thai media reports, each of the arrestees paid between Tk 4 lakh and Tk 4.5 lakh to brokers.
Fahad Pervez Bosunia, counsellor (labour welfare) at the Bangladesh embassy in Thailand, said they were aware of the arrests and taking necessary steps.
People working on prevention of human trafficking alleged that syndicate members manage immigration clearance for the workers at the Dhaka airport by bribing a section of immigration police members.
If workers leave the country on tourist visas, the authorities must have a strong mechanism to monitor why and where they are going as their arrests taint Bangladesh's image abroad, they added.
In case anyone does not return home on expiry of tourist visa, the immigration department must report it to the authorities concerned, they said.
Trafficking to Malaysia has been going on for many years. When the authorities intensify watch on a certain route, the transnational trafficking syndicates look for new routes.
Brokers are now taking job seekers to Sri Lanka and Nepal first, from where they are moved to Vietnam and Cambodia. Then they are forced to sneak into Thailand before being transported to Malaysian border on cars and trucks, said officials working on controlling human trafficking.
Some traffickers are also taking job seekers to Thailand through Myanmar. Many of them are being arrested in Thailand and Cambodia, they added.
Several years ago, many fortune-seekers died in a boat capsize in the sea on their way to Malaysia while some other died of starvation and torture in the deep forest of Thailand where members of transnational trafficking syndicates held them hostage for ransom.
News of arrests of Bangladeshi fortune seekers quite often makes headlines in the international media.
According to media reports, 19 Bangladeshi migrants were arrested with four Thai nationals in Songkhla province of Thailand on June 22 last year. On September 23, seven Bangladeshis, disguised as Buddhist monks, were arrested while they were being taken to Malaysian border. They entered Thailand from Myanmar.
Besides, Cambodian department of immigration arrested two Bangladeshi trafficking gang members, including Sajjad Al Faisal, after it detained 51 Bangladeshi victims in two hotels in Phnom Penh on January 11 this year. The victims are now under the shelter of the social welfare ministry.
Marina Sultana, director (programme) of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), said taking people to Malaysia promising jobs has been going on for many years.
"Once organised syndicates used sea routes from Cox's Bazar and many fortune-seekers had died on their way to Malaysia. The syndicates often change their routes and strategies," she said.
If the arrestees in Thailand are found to be travelling on tourist visas, then the travel agencies concerned must be involved in trafficking, Marina argued.
"So, we must have strong monitoring and control mechanism in place to check irregularities by travel agencies and airport immigration. The authorities have to check where the workers are travelling to and why," she told this correspondent recently.
The Daily Star called and texted Special Superintendent of Police (immigration at Dhaka airport) Shahriar Alam for comments, but he did not respond.
Contacted, broker Rafiq Kha denied his involvement in taking job seekers to Malaysia illegally. He claimed one Selim knew how Rasal was taken to Thailand.
Enquired about the incident, Selim on Thursday said he just processed air tickets from his Al Aim Tours and Travels upon request from one Mamun who is in Malaysia.