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Combating Human Trafficking

Govt to ratify Palermo Protocol: foreign secy

Staff Correspondent
The government will ratify a new international instrument to combat human trafficking, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said yesterday.
The "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children" - supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime -- known as the "Palermo Protocol", would help the government launch initiatives to fight such trans-boundary crimes, he said.
"It's a big step towards addressing human trafficking in Bangladesh," the foreign secretary said at a workshop. "So, you'll see a series of actions initiated by various ministries in line with the Palermo Protocol," he added.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) arranged the national consultative workshop on "Comprehensive Responses to Trafficking in Persons" at the InterContinental Dhaka.
The foreign secretary, however, did not specify when the government will ratify the protocol.
Addressing the workshop, he said the protocol is a "legal instrument" rather than one for addressing human rights issues. Therefore, the home ministry will take it forward and a committee has been formed to look into it, he said.
In the absence of specific bilateral or multilateral cooperation treaties, states can use the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol directly as a basis for cross-border cooperation, said UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo.
"Here in Bangladesh, there is a need to establish coordination mechanisms such as a national authority," she said, reading out a written statement.
Commending Bangladesh's decision, Brent Christensen, political counselor at US embassy, said, "The United States views the Palermo Protocol as the cornerstone for national and international anti-trafficking efforts."
The US wants to offer continued and full support to Bangladesh in its fight to combat human trafficking, from providing police training on human trafficking law, to assistance with trafficking victim shelters, he said.
Last year, 561 human trafficking cases were recorded by police while 31 cases were disposed of by courts with conviction of eight persons in four cases, said Additional Secretary (public security division) Abu Bakar Siddique of the home ministry.
This year till July, 387 cases were recorded and 15 were disposed of with conviction of one person in a case, he said.
Also, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rescued 312 women, 172 children and 903 men from along the borders last year, he further said.