Enact new law to stop human trafficking

Speakers tell workshop

5 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

A new law should be enacted to address all forms of human trafficking without hindering safe migration, speakers said at a workshop in the city yesterday. Speaking as chief guest Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, joint secretary (political) to the home ministry, said the government is working closely with national and international non-governmental organisations and UN agencies to prevent the trafficking. He said the recommendations of the workshop would help the government draft a comprehensive law to deal with all forms of human trafficking. It is not possible to combat human trafficking without a concerted effort, said Dr Kamal. With the support of USAID/Winrock Interna-tional, Dhaka, Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) organised the programme titled “Assessment workshop to address challenges of national legislation on human trafficking in line with UN Palermo Protocol” at Biam auditorium. Addressing the workshop as a special guest, Advocate Salma Ali said Bangladesh is ahead of many other countries in combating the human trafficking. She also pointed out the Saarc convention on preventing and combating trafficking in women and children for prostitution. “It'll help address the repatriation and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking and prevent the use of women and children in international prostitution networks, particularly where the Saarc members are the countries of origin, transit and destination,” she said. Lisa S Hammond, chief of Party, Winrock International said in recent years the trend of human trafficking has been changing globally. She appreciated the initiatives taken by the Bangladesh government to make effort in combating human trafficking. CWCS President Prof Ishrat Shamim said the purpose of the workshop is to learn the comparative analysis between UN Palermo Protocol and existing national laws and necessity of incorporating relevant articles of Palermo Protocol with our national laws to combat human trafficking effectively. Mahbuba Nasreen, Vice-President of CWCS, said women and children are comparatively vulnerable during disaster to be trafficked. Therefore, it is important to work more intensively during the time of catastrophe. About 40 participants including government officials, police, public prosecutors, lawyers, NGOs, INGOs and UN agencies attended the workshop.