Roundup: Bangladesh wants regional, global efforts to end human trafficking

Bangladesh has called for regional and global efforts to resolve the human trafficking problem, saying poverty is not essentially the only reason behind human trafficking.

"One thing is very clear, that poverty is not the only cause behind human trafficking. It's not essentially the main driver. The driver is something else. That doesn't mean we're saying poverty is not a reason," Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque told reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Monday.

Terming human trafficking as a regional and global problem, Haque said Bangladesh or any other country cannot resolve it alone as it is a multi-causer, multi-dimensional and multi-layer problem.

He said the issue will have to be resolved through regional and global efforts.

"There're some factors and forces behind human trafficking through sea which are beyond our control," he said.

The foreign secretary said the government would bring back rescued Bangladeshis after proper verification within a month, if possible.

"According to our initial estimates, about less than 30 percent of the victims recently rescued are Bangladeshis," he said.

The foreign secretary said they will finish the nationality verification of these people as quick as possible, and repatriate them to Bangladesh.

"Bangladeshi missions in the respective countries remain very active. Our officials have already collected antecedents of self- identified Bangladeshis, and have obtained consular access for doing so. Our envoys are personally supervising the matter," he added.

Earlier, Bangladesh thanked Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar for bringing the victims to safety and providing them with necessary humanitarian assistance.

Haque said Bangladesh has a strong policy to combat human trafficking and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shown zero tolerance to that end.

The foreign secretary said Bangladesh's performance was very good in the last three years in combating human trafficking and the global report on trafficking in persons show that. "We were surprised to see a growth in human trafficking in a particular month."

Asked about the possible involvement of government employees in human trafficking, he said he is not aware of such a thing but the law enforcing agencies will look into it.

Shahidul Haque also said human trafficking is everywhere in the world, even in Europe and the United States.

He said the issue should not be politicized. "If it's politicized, the victims will suffer."

The foreign secretary said there is a big criminal network in the region and a huge sum of money is exchanged annually due to human and drug trafficking.

He added that the government is also open to addressing the issue bilaterally and mentioned that an memorandum of understanding will be signed with India on combating human trafficking during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit. Endi