Bangladesh remains on tier-2 again in human trafficking

Bangladesh still remains at "Tier 2" in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for the third year, as the government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

However, the report, titled "2022 Trafficking in Persons Report" praised the government, noting that Bangladesh is making significant efforts.   

The TIP ranks countries by putting them in Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-2 Watch List, and Tier-3, with Tier-1 being the best in terms of taking actions against human trafficking and Tier-3 being the worst.

Any country in Tier-3 faces sanctions on development assistance.

The 2022 TIP report is the 22nd instalment and covers 188 countries, including the US. Trafficking means coercing, defrauding and falsifying people for employing or transferring them from one place to another for exploitation. This can happen within a country or from one country to another.

The TIP report launched by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last night says Bangladesh government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.

"The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared tp the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity. Therefore, Bangladesh remains on Tier 2," said the 2022 TIP report released on Tuesday (19 July).       

"These efforts included increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions against human traffickers, including upholding the dismissal of a member of parliament involved in a labour trafficking case," said the report.

About Bangladesh, the report mentioned that in August 2021, the seven Anti-Trafficking Tribunals resumed operations and the Rangpur and Rajshahi tribunals became the third and fourth courts to record trafficking convictions.              

"The government also ratified the protocol to the ILO's forced labour convention as part of efforts against forced labour. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas," read the report.           

It said that Bangladesh identified fewer potential trafficking victims compared with the previous reporting period and victim care remains insufficient.