Experts for strict vigilance

Human trafficking

Experts have called for creating awareness against illegal migration in areas that are prone to human trafficking. They also underscored the need for strict vigilance against human trafficking gangs to check the menace.
Talking to The Independent yesterday, Prof. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, a leading researcher on refugees and migration, said human traffickers are using airports, instead of treacherous sea routes, to take illegal immigrants to foreign shores.
“Officials in our high commission in Libya have told us that illegal migrants are reaching there every day in flights from Bangladeshi airports,” said Prof. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, key founder of the Dhaka University-based Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), a centre for migrant and refugee research, policy advocacy and capacity building.
“It means that some immigration officials and law enforcers are also directly involved in international human trafficking rackets,” he said, adding that the government should investigate the allegations against government officials.
Another expert, Prof. Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chairman of RAMRU, said illegal migration to European countries via some war-ravaged African countries like Libya has gone up recently. She also said as the opportunities for male migration to foreign countries are decreasing day by day, poor migrants are falling prey to greedy human traffickers.
“Such illegal acts could be significantly minimised if the government goes for massive employment generation in the country,” she added.
She referred to the death of 24 suspected Bangladeshis in the Mediterranean Sea when two rickety boats sank off the Libyan coast on Thursday, saying the Libyan and Sudanese embassies there should be very strict in issuing tourist visas to Bangladeshis because they mainly used these two countries for illegally going to European countries.

“Why are so many Bangladeshis going to Libya and Sudan everyday, ignoring the deadly conflicts raging there?” she said.
Prof. Tasneem Siddiqui said global leaders as well as international NGOs must also play an important play in combating human trafficking. “If there were no conflicts in countries such as Libya, Iraq, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, then these migrants would have never tried to sneak into Europe via these countries by ignoring serious life threats,” she added.
The rule of law and strong democracy are also very much needed to resist human trafficking, she said, adding that many people are flee their countries because of the fear of falling victims to political persecutions.
On their part, law enforcers said they could not resist anyone from leaving the country if that person had a valid visa and proper travel documents.
Additional DIG (Media and Public Relations) of Bangladesh Police Nazrul Islam said the Bangladeshi migrants who were recently detained while illegally going to Europe had actually left Bangladesh with all legal documents. “Bangladesh embassies in those countries did not inform us that the detainees’ motives were to illegally migrate to Europe,” he added.
The top official also rejected the allegation of law enforcers being involved in human trafficking. “As we’re now aware of the issue, our law enforcers dealing with migration would be more cautious in resisting them,” he said.
He also said diplomatic officials can actually play a vital role, as they are entitled to deal with visas and foreign employment issues.

Experts for strict vigilance

Human trafficking

Experts have called for creating awareness against illegal migration in areas that are prone to human trafficking. They also underscored the need for strict vigilance against human trafficking gangs to check the menace. Talking to The Independent yesterday, Prof. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, a leading researcher on refugees and migration, said human traffickers are using airports, instead of treacherous sea routes, to take illegal immigrants to foreign shores. Officials in our high commission in Libya have told us that illegal migrants are reaching there every day in flights from Bangladeshi airports, said Prof. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, key founder of the Dhaka University-based Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), a centre for migrant and refugee research, policy advocacy and capacity building. It means that some immigration officials and law enforcers are also directly involved in international human trafficking rackets, he said, adding that the government should investigate the allegations against government officials. Another expert, Prof. Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chairman of RAMRU, said illegal migration to European countries via some war-ravaged African countries like Libya has gone up recently. She also said as the opportunities for male migration to foreign countries are decreasing day by day, poor migrants are falling prey to greedy human traffickers. Such illegal acts could be significantly minimised if the government goes for massive employment generation in the country, she added. She referred to the death of 24 suspected Bangladeshis in the Mediterranean Sea when two rickety boats sank off the Libyan coast on Thursday, saying the Libyan and Sudanese embassies there should be very strict in issuing tourist visas to Bangladeshis because they mainly used these two countries for illegally going to European countries. Why are so many Bangladeshis going to Libya and Sudan everyday, ignoring the deadly conflicts raging there? she said. Prof. Tasneem Siddiqui said global leaders as well as international NGOs must also play an important play in combating human trafficking. If there were no conflicts in countries such as Libya, Iraq, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, then these migrants would have never tried to sneak into Europe via these countries by ignoring serious life threats, she added. The rule of law and strong democracy are also very much needed to resist human trafficking, she said, adding that many people are flee their countries because of the fear of falling victims to political persecutions. On their part, law enforcers said they could not resist anyone from leaving the country if that person had a valid visa and proper travel documents. Additional DIG (Media and Public Relations) of Bangladesh Police Nazrul Islam said the Bangladeshi migrants who were recently detained while illegally going to Europe had actually left Bangladesh with all legal documents. Bangladesh embassies in those countries did not inform us that the detainees motives were to illegally migrate to Europe, he added. The top official also rejected the allegation of law enforcers being involved in human trafficking. As were now aware of the issue, our law enforcers dealing with migration would be more cautious in resisting them, he said. He also said diplomatic officials can actually play a vital role, as they are entitled to deal with visas and foreign employment issues.