TiP report indicates progress

The U.S. State Department, in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TiP) report released on Tuesday placed Bangladesh in the Tier 2 bracket of countries that haven't yet fully complied with the minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so. The report has acknowledged some of the inherent weaknesses in our law enforcement with regards to tackling trafficking but has also mentioned that necessary steps are being taken to fix the infirmities. Although the police registered 377 cases involving trafficking, the conviction rate remains low and gaps in the legal process must be addressed.
Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest growing activities of transnational criminal organizations and with a restive border with Myanmar only exacerbating the situation, the government should scrutinize the issue with added impetus. The TiP report stressed the fact that Bangladesh lacked a formal referral mechanism and that the police and public officials were not adequately trained to handle matters of trafficking. The role of the government in this regard should be two-fold: to unearth the networks through which trafficking is being carried out and to create institutions for rehabilitating the victims back into everyday society. We applaud the government's steps to halt trafficking mechanisms present in the country and hope that it can soon be able to move up into Tier 1- the bracket of countries that are fully compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).