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Huge foreign currencies being smuggled out thru' illegal human trafficking
Md. Asiful Huq
2/16/2006
A huge quantity of foreign currencies is smuggled out of the country through illegal human trafficking.
An owner of a recruiting agency expressed this concern while talking to the FE.
As many countries, especially South Africa, Spain, do not have any mission in Bangladesh traffickers go to New Delhi and manage visas for the target countries, sources said.
After reaching neighboring country the people, seeking migration, are received by members of an organised network and sent to the chosen destinations in exchange of bribes, sources added.
In most cases these illiterate people cannot understand the procedures and are deceived by attractive proposals of human traffickers.
Sources said there are some recruiting agencies now in Bangladesh through which manpower is exported to different countries across the globe, especially in Middle East.
Sources said a good number of illiterate people takes the help of human traffickers to go abroad, especially South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, USA, Canada, and other developed countries in exchange of lot of money.
Sources said this illegal human traffickers take Tk.0.5- 06 million for sending a person to South Africa , Tk.0.7- 0.8 million to South Korea and Tk. 1.0-1.1 million to the USA.
Traffickers use Dhaka- New Delhi- Kenya- Zimbabwe- route for illegal trafficking of human and some other routes, sources said.
In most cases the fortune hunters are caught by the police and law enforcing agencies and kept in jail for a period of time; and they do hard work to earn airfare and are sent back home, sources said.
Valuable foreign currencies of the country are smuggled out through the human trafficking. Besides, some recruiting agencies and government officials are allegedly involved in this illegal trafficking.
One high official of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry said people are recruited for working in Middle East countries as labourers, and physicians, teachers and engineers are also sent to some developed countries.
The government is trying hard to influence non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) to send their earnings through proper channels and took different initiatives for speedy and safe money transfer from all over the globe within shortest possible time, one state-owned bank official said.
Official said to mobilise external resources the government has made investment by NRB tax-free and kept provision for investment by NRB in different government instruments.
Talking to the FE Ali Haider Chowdhury, general secretary of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said some 764 recruiting agencies are now registered in Bangladesh and are sending people to different countries of the world, especially Middle East countries and a very few to developed countries.
Besides, Haider said, some people directly go abroad with student visa, tourist visa and other visas.
Haider, however, could not provide any information regarding the organisations involved in illegal human trafficking.
Haider said it is true that some organisations are actively involved in such illegal human trafficking. He, however, could not provide any number.
Haider said due to such illegal trafficking official manpower export or legal migration to South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia and some developed countries is being hampered and the country is losing a lot of foreign exchange.
Moreover, a huge amount of foreign currencies is smuggled out of the country creating negative impact on foreign exchange reserve, Haider added.
The government has enacted Money Laundering Act -2002 to check illegal transfer of foreign currencies, but strong initiative is yet to be taken by the concerned authority regarding currency transfer through illegal trafficking, one government official said.
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