2m euros to fight human trafficking

The home ministry and Bangladesh Police are implementing the programme. The anti-trafficking component will be implemented from 2007 to the end of 2008.

The agreement was signed at the office of the Delegation of the European Commission in the city.

"I am delighted that the European Commission and UNDP are working together to tackle human trafficking," said Ambassador Stefan Frowein, Head of the Delegation of the EC, at the signing ceremony.

He said: "It is a crime that has destroyed the lives of countless women and children in Bangladesh. The police force is in the front-line of efforts to fight trafficking and it is therefore vital that the police are well-resourced and well-trained in this field.

This project with the UNDP will contribute to ensuring that this is the case".

The purpose of "Anti trafficking of Human Beings" component is to substantially reduce the trafficking of human beings by developing a well-trained and responsive police force.

The EC-supported component will focus on various areas which include development of national trafficking of human beings strategy and action plan, building policing capacity to analyse trafficking networks and operations, improving investigative capacity and prosecution effectiveness, developing effective victim support mechanisms and building community-police partnership to combat human trafficking.

Although the exact scale of human trafficking is unknown in Bangladesh, stakeholders agree on its significance, the gravity of the offence and the necessity to treat it as a crime, and to prevent and combat it.