The recent seizure of a trawler, carrying 92 Rohingyas and 12 Bangladeshis by the Myanmar authority brings to the fore the issue of illegal trafficking. It’s believed that the Bangladeshi citizens, all residents of Cox’s Bazaar, were on the boat, hoping to reach Malaysia. The persistence of human trafficking fundamentally challenges the basic values of humanity, including our inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. Trafficking of people, using the Karnaphuli River, has been reported before though the nefarious act continues, reportedly, backed by collusion between politically connected groups and traffickers. The concern over trafficking is more in recent times as there is a large number of women and children living in Cox’s Bazaar Rohingya camps after fleeing oppression in Rakhine State in Myanmar. These women and children are the main targets of traffickers who lure them with promises of better life abroad and then push them towards servitude overseas, often in brothels which operate beyond the periphery of a legal framework.

The law enforcers and the coastguard are alert though the main requirement is proper sensitizing of the people about such unscrupulous rackets which operate under the guise of benevolent organisations. Government plus the development agencies supported by UN must set up counselling centres in Cox’s Bazaar so people, both local and the Rohingyas, know how to spot a trafficker. Regrettably, many of these human smuggling bodies are protected by local high ups with political patronage. Unless the government and the ruling party take a firm stand, all other initiatives to counter trafficking will prove unavailing. Shockingly, 36 traffickers have been identified while none has been arrested as yet – a disheartening proof of how helpless law enforcers are when faced with dodgy operations under the aegis of a political umbrella. The local administration has to take some stern steps to curb trafficking of humans, sparing no one.

Meanwhile, a clear government order to nab the masterminds is essential, otherwise, only the small fries will be caught and the big fish will go into temporary hibernation. To look at the issue from a sociological perspective, it needs to be understood why so many young men still want to undergo perilous sea journeys in rickety crafts to go overseas to an uncertain future when the country’s economy is strong enough to provide employment or give support to small business enterprises in cities and, in rural areas.