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Coordinated efforts by the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) are important to prevent human trafficking, said the speakers at a discussion in the capital on Wednesday.
They also stressed the need for building public awareness and mobilising actions against human trafficking.
They came up with the observations at the event marking the World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2025 (July 30) with the theme 'Human Trafficking is Organised Crime - End the Exploitation' at a city hotel.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration (BDUNNM) jointly organised the event. Jashim Uddin Khan, Joint Secretary (Political-1 Branch) of Public Security Division (PSD) under MoHA, delivered the address of welcome.
Md Aminul Islam, Deputy Secretary (Political-3) of PSD, presented a keynote on the current situation of responding to human trafficking in Bangladesh.
Khondakar Md Mahabubur Rahman, Additional Secretary (Political and ICT) of PSD, was the chief guest of the programme.
He said human trafficking is a global problem, and Bangladesh is not an exception. It is causing various social problems. Bangladesh government maintains 'zero tolerance' policy against human trafficking, and has enacted several laws and regulations to prevent trafficking.
The speakers at the event revealed that an estimated 50 million people are currently living in modern slavery, 61 per cent of the detected victims being women and girls, including 12 million children.
They called for coordinated international actions to stop the pervasive exploitation. The number of trafficking victims is increasing each year, along with the distance, level of violence, periods of time, and amount of profit made.
More than 0.2 million victims were detected across the globe from 2020 to 2023, but the true count of unreported incidents is said to be much higher.
Coordinator of BDUNNM Lance Bonneau, Charge d' Affaires of European Union (EU) delegation Dr Bernd Spanier, Deputy Country Director of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Sujin Kong, Deputy Secretary (Additional District Judge) of Law and Justice Division Dr Abdul Hasanat, and Additional DIG of Bangladesh Police Md Ashik Sayeed were present, among others, on the occasion.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com