OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
BANGLADESH (Tier 2)
The Government of Bangladesh 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 with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Bangladesh remained on Tier 2. These efforts included increasing prosecutions and convictions against traffickers, increasing investigations of cases involving Rohingya victims for the first time in recent years, and taking steps to lower some recruitment fees associated with the government-run recruitment agency. The government extended its NAP to 2025 and published its first national study on human trafficking in Bangladesh. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Although the government increased law enforcement efforts, it did not take adequate steps to address internal sex trafficking or official complicity, both of which remained pervasive; and it did not consistently hold accountable sub-agents conducting illegal recruitment operations. Victim protection efforts remained insufficient, including shelter services and availability, and the government identified and referred to care significantly fewer victims. The government did not uniformly employ SOPs to identify trafficking victims, including among vulnerable populations, and authorities continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling in many cases. Furthermore, courts sentenced the majority of traffickers to fines rather than jail time, which weakened deterrence, undercut the government’s overall anti-trafficking efforts, and likely created security and safety concerns for victims.
To read the full report visit👉 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/bangladesh/
