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DE RUEHKA #0335/01 0600210
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FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3334
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0941
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 0061
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0061
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 0141
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0026
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7799
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1519
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8953
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0270
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9678
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0348
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0226
RUEHMK/AMEMBASSY MANAMA 0166
RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT 0031
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2515
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 0146
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0827
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 DHAKA 000335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR: G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, IWI, PRM, SCA/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH ANNUAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 202745 
 
 ¶1.  This Anti-Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report covers 
efforts by the Bangladeshi government (GOB) from March 2006 
to March 2007, and address the questions submitted to Post by 
G/TIP (reftel). Paragraph two begins text. Embassy point of 
contact is Luke Zahner, Political Officer, telephone: 
880-2-885-5500 x 2148, IVG post-code: 583, fax number: 
880-2-882-3744, e-mail: ZahnerLV@state.gov.  Compiling the 
report required 88 hours at the FS-04 level, 16 hours at the 
FS-02 level, and 72 hours by Political Section and USAID 
FSNs. 
 
¶2. Overview of the Country's Activities to Eliminate 
Trafficking in Persons 
 
-- A. Bangladesh remains a country of origin and transit, 
especially for women and children, for the purposes of sexual 
exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and debt 
bondage.  People from Bangladesh are trafficked to India, 
Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 
and other Persian Gulf States.   While Bangladeshi children, 
and in particular boys, continue to be victims of debt 
bondage trafficking to the Gulf, efforts by the government of 
Bangladesh (GOB) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to 
stop the use of Bangladeshi boys as camel jockeys and to 
repatriate them have been largely successful. 
 
Bangladesh provides a large number of laborers to other 
countries, particularly to the Middle East and Southeast 
Asia.  While the vast majority of Bangladeshi expatriate 
laborers work under legitimate contracts, some Bangladeshi 
laborers are trafficked.  Some are trafficked only after 
arriving in their host country or in transit; there have also 
been reports of collusion between illicit Bangladeshi labor 
brokers and companies in the host countries. 
 
Communities closest to border areas with India are at 
greatest risk for international trafficking.  The GOB has 
improved its ability to keep track of those rescued at the 
border and at police stations, and these numbers are fairly 
accurate.  There are no reliable statistics, however, for the 
number of victims successfully taken out of the country. 
 
-- B. Trafficking remains a serious problem for Bangladesh. 
However, because it is impossible to get accurate figures for 
those individuals trafficked abroad, it is difficult to 
determine whether the trafficking situation has improved or 
deteriorated.  Trafficking continues to receive serious 
attention from the GOB and civil society, and awareness 
continues to increase due to public and private outreach 
efforts. 
 
Victims of trafficking are lured by promises of relatively 
high wages abroad and by false offers of marriage or 
employment.  Targeted populations include the very poor, 
migrants, ethnic minorities, flood and other disaster 
victims, runaways, the illiterate, and women who have been 
divorced, widowed, or abandoned.  Trafficked children often 
travel with a parent or guardian to their place of work and 
are left alone with the employer after a few weeks.  Fake 
passports are not required for trafficking purposes since it 
is not difficult to get a real passport with a false 
identity.  Fake birth, marriage, divorce, and death 
certificates are widely available, and few people in rural 
 
DHAKA 00000335  002 OF 010 
 
 
areas register births or marriages. 
 
The caretaker government that took office in January 2007 has 
proposed steps to crack down on document fraud, including the 
possible introduction of a national identification card with 
strict issuance controls, but these plans are still in the 
discussion phase. The new government also launched a major 
anti-corruption program which has also netted people and 
organizations with possible links to labor trafficking rings. 
Over the past year, police and the paramilitary Rapid Action 
Battalion have raided and de-licensed or closed several labor 
recruitment agencies engaged in possible labor trafficking 
scams. 
 
There has been significant progress in the area of camel 
jockeys. According to GOB reports, no camel jockeys of 
Bangladeshi origin remain in the UAE. A total of 168 boys 
originally trafficked as camel jockeys have been repatriated 
from the UAE to Bangladesh under an agreement between the two 
governments, and all but one have been reunited with their 
families. An additional 32 boys have returned from the UAE to 
Bangladesh through other channels. The GOB continued to track 
trafficking cases through the anti-TIP Units at the district 
and national levels. 
 
-- C. The GOB has taken significant steps in the last three 
years to combat trafficking.  However, its ability to 
increase trafficking prosecution is constrained by an 
inefficient judicial system and untrained prosecutors. Lack 
of sufficient training and resources persist. The GOB has 
sought to address these problems by working with the 
International Organization on Migration (IOM) to provide 
training in 2007 for approximately 1,500 prosecutors and 
lawyers to enhance their capacity to deal with trafficking 
cases more effectively. 
 
The GOB has not been able to provide adequate shelter for 
trafficking victims and commonly relies on non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) for assistance. Bangladesh,s border 
with India is not secure, and its Coast Guard has too few 
resources to prevent trafficking and smuggling along the Bay 
of Bengal.  Although there is little direct evidence of 
corruption among police or border officials in regards to 
trafficking, some NGOs assume that the general climate of 
corruption prevalent in Bangladeshi society is a contributing 
factor to trafficking. 
 
-- D. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) collects data on 
trafficking arrests, prosecutions, and rescues, and presents 
these data to Embassy personnel and other interested donors 
monthly.  The Monitoring Cell for Trafficking in Persons 
continues to function at National Police Headquarters since 
being established almost three years ago.  One of the 
responsibilities of the cell is to coordinate and analyze the 
information coming from the police,s regional 
anti-trafficking units. These regional units are responsible 
for monitoring local trafficking cases and assisting 
prosecutors in getting the cases to trial. 
 
The GOB also stood up district trafficking-in-persons 
monitoring committees in each of the country,s 64 districts, 
headed by the Deputy Commissioner (the principal government 
officer at the district level). These committees are 
responsible, among other things, for monitoring selected 
pending trafficking cases for fast-track trials. 
 
DHAKA 00000335  003 OF 010 
 
 
 
¶3. Prevention 
 
-- A. The GOB acknowledges trafficking is a serious problem 
and works with the U.S. and other donors to combat it. 
 
-- B. The MOHA is the lead agency for the GOB's 
anti-trafficking efforts.  Other key GOB actors are the Prime 
Minister's Office, the Ministry of Women and Children's 
Affairs, the Ministry of Law, the Foreign Ministry, the 
Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the 
Ministry of Labor and Employment, the Ministry of Expatriate 
Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Ministry of Religious 
Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the NGO Affairs Bureau, 
the Department of Local Government, the Civil Aviation 
Authority, the Department of Immigration and Passports, the 
paramilitary ANSAR force, the paramilitary Rapid Action 
Battalion, the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, the Coast 
Guard, and the police. 
 
-- C. The GOB continues to implement an extensive, 
nation-wide anti-trafficking campaign.  From April 2006 
through January 2007, the GOB aired 106 public service 
announcements (PSAs) on Bangladesh television (BTV), the only 
terrestrial TV channel in Bangladesh. The GOB produced and 
aired 444 radio PSAs on state-owned Bangla Betar radio 
network during the same period. The Ministry of Religious 
Affairs implemented several anti-trafficking programs 
including training religious teachers who reached out of over 
300,000 people.  The Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry 
of Women,s and Children,s Affairs and the Ministry of 
Primary and Mass Education conducted over 380,000 awareness 
sessions reaching micro-borrowers and at-risk families around 
the country.  About 100,000 personnel of the Bangladesh 
Rifles, ANSAR and Village Defense Parties also received 
anti-trafficking training. 
 
-- D. The GOB provides stipends to girls who attend school 
regularly to reduce child labor and child marriages. 
Stipends are based on girls staying in school with a 
monitored attendance record. Training is provided to imams 
and other religious leaders to raise awareness of the problem 
in mosques and religious schools.  Donors, including the USG, 
fund most of these programs, and NGOs implement them. 
 
-- E. There is a strong working relationship on 
anti-trafficking issues among government officials, NGOs, and 
other elements of civil society. Officials from various 
government offices collaborate in efforts at prevention, 
victim protection, and prosecutions, and a joint 
government-NGO coordination committee meets monthly to report 
on progress made in combating trafficking.  The MOHA also 
holds a monthly meeting with the Embassy to provide updates 
on their anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
In response to concerns in 2006 of increased reports of labor 
migration problems, the GOB established a high-level working 
committee on labor migration problems to develop policies to 
address problems with expatriate labor. The committee, which 
met for the first time in February 2007, is chaired jointly 
by the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of the Ministry 
for Expatriate Welfare. 
 
One particular coordination success was the government-NGO 
cooperation in handling the camel jockey situation. Shelter 
 
DHAKA 00000335  004 OF 010 
 
 
operators, customs and border officials, local prominent 
citizens, and international development organizations worked 
extremely well together to facilitate the repatriation of the 
trafficked boys from the UAE and reunite them with their 
families in Bangladesh. 
 
-- F. Since June 2004, immigration and customs officials have 
stopped more than 3,000 potential trafficking victims at the 
border, mostly at Zia International Airport in Dhaka.  The 
government has instituted a three-stage screening process at 
all international airports.  Land border screening remains 
weak, though the GOB has begun training land-port immigration 
officials to sensitize them to trafficking issues.  The MOHA 
now provides updated numbers of potential victims stopped at 
the borders and analyzes them with the assistance of donor 
agencies and NGOs to try to identify trafficking patterns. 
 
-- G. There are two government mechanisms for coordination 
and communication among ministries: the inter-ministerial 
trafficking-in-persons committee, and the joint government 
thematic working group chaired by IOM.  The Home Affairs 
Secretary, the second-in-command at the MOHA, serves as the 
 
SIPDIS 
senior working-level government official on trafficking 
issues. 
 
The new caretaker government has begun revamping the GOB's 
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to help make it function. In 
January 2007, the ACC chair and commissioners resigned, and 
the government is in the process of replacing them with a 
priority on rehabilitating the body and making it an 
effective corruption watchdog. 
 
-- H. The GOB launched its National Anti-Trafficking 
Strategic Plan for Action (NATSPA) on February 18, 2006. 
MOHA had the lead in developing the plan, but all GOB 
elements on the inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee 
were involved, as were the key NGOs.  Local media widely 
covered the national launching ceremony for the plan. 
 
¶4. Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
-- A. There has been no significant new legislation passed 
since the 2004 report.  However, in October 2006 the GOB 
adopted an Overseas Employment Policy with the assistance of 
IOM to clarify policy regarding expatriate workers. This is 
the first such policy in South Asia, according to IOM. 
 
The Repression of Women and Children Prevention Act of 2000 
(amended in 2003) covers internal and external trafficking 
for sexual or non-sexual purposes.  Other laws used in 
trafficking cases include the Child Marriage Restraint Act 
(1929), the Children Pledging and Labor Act (1933), and the 
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act (1933). In 2005, 
Bangladesh signed a Bilateral Labor Agreement with Malaysia 
that stipulated policies and procedures for enforcing rules 
on expatriate labor. The laws are generally deemed to cover 
the full scope of trafficking cases. 
 
-- B. The most common sentence handed down in trafficking 
cases is life imprisonment, but sentences can range from 10 
years of hard labor to death. 
 
-- C. Domestic labor trafficking violations are generally 
prosecuted under the Repression of Women and Children 
Prevention Act as amended in 2003. Expatriate migration 
 
DHAKA 00000335  005 OF 010 
 
 
issues are overseen by the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare, 
and are guided by an Overseas Workers Policy adopted by the 
GOB in October 2006. Prosecutions for labor trafficking 
violations are generally conducted under anti-corruption, 
breach of contract, and fraud statutes. Penalties for 
violations generally include de-licensing and/or closure of 
the involved agency, as well as fines and possible jail time. 
 
In 2006, the Ministry for Expatriate Welfare, the Bangladesh 
Agency for Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and the 
labor main recruitment agency umbrella organization agreed to 
enforce caps on fees that recruitment agencies can charge 
laborers. These registration fee caps, which are regulations 
rather than laws, generally limit the amount an agency can 
charge to 84,000 taka (approximately $1,200). The fee 
includes airfare, health checkup, and other expenses. The GOB 
is strengthening its monitoring of these agencies, though 
enforcement of the caps is difficult because of deceptive 
practices by some agencies, side-costs levied on workers 
under the table, and general corruption. 
 
-- D. Under the Repression of Women and Children Prevention 
Act as amended in 2003, the penalty for rape is a life 
sentence with hard labor, and a fine. Sentences for rape 
resulting in death range from a mandatory life sentence to 
the death penalty. The penalty for sexual abuse ranges from 
three to ten years of hard labor as well as fines. 
 
-- E. Prostitution is decriminalized for women over the age 
of 18 who work in brothels.  The punishment for pimps is ten 
years to life imprisonment. These laws are not uniformly 
enforced by the police. 
 
-- F. From April 2006 to March 2007, the GOB investigated 68 
trafficking cases, arrested 91 people on trafficking-related 
charges, and prosecuted 70. Thirty cases (some with multiple 
defendants) resulted in 43 convictions. The courts issued 
four death sentences, 32 sentences of life imprisonment, and 
seven sentences of lesser prison terms. There is no mechanism 
for plea bargaining in trafficking cases, and imposing a fine 
is not a sentencing option. Defendants in trafficking trials 
and convicted traffickers are routinely incarcerated. 
 
The MOHA and the Monitoring Unit have been compiling 
information from different sources that demonstrates that 
many cases are being settled out of court or because 
witnesses are not showing up in court due to financial 
arrangements made outside of the legal system.  Bangladeshi 
law treats these cases as acquittals when in fact they are 
mistrials.  This distorts the reality of the number of 
acquittals versus convictions.  The MOHA is just now starting 
to come to grips with this and decide on what approaches they 
can take to mitigate this situation. 
 
In 2006, the GOB began more aggressively to investigate and 
prosecute cases involving labor recruiters who made knowingly 
fraudulent or deceptive offers. In July 2006, the Minister 
for Expatriate Welfare stopped issuing permits for female 
workers applying to work abroad after several high-profile 
cases of fraud. In November 2006, authorities prevented the 
potential trafficking of 30 Bangladeshi women to Lebanon 
through Zia International Airport in Dhaka, and arrested five 
immigration officers on suspicion of complicity in the case. 
Subsequent raids on five recruitment agencies led to their 
de-licensing and closure. In early 2007, as part of a wider 
 
DHAKA 00000335  006 OF 010 
 
 
anti-corruption effort, investigators uncovered linkages 
between recruitment agencies and other corruption cases. 
Investigations are still on-going in many of these cases. The 
MOHA has also opened an investigation into the three 
Bangladeshi recruitment agencies that were identified by name 
in a May 2006 National Labor Committee report on potential 
labor trafficking in Jordan. 
 
-- G. There is anecdotal evidence connecting traffickers to 
rings of goods smugglers, but the scope of organized 
trafficking networks is unknown.  NGOs cite recruitment and 
employment ("travel") agencies, marriage brokers, and 
opportunists with involvement in trafficking.  The GOB 
initiated raids on five such agencies in late 2006, and 
ongoing anti-corruption and related investigations should 
shed more light on these networks. 
 
-- H. The GOB actively investigates cases of trafficking. The 
GOB has begun providing more resources for anti-trafficking 
efforts, but investigations are still hindered by 
inadequately trained and under-resourced police and 
prosecutors.  The GOB does not have the skills, knowledge, or 
resources to stage undercover operations or employ electronic 
surveillance against traffickers.  The law allows for 
mitigated punishment and immunity for cooperating suspects, 
but these inducements are rarely used. 
 
-- I. The GOB continued to work with international donor 
partners to develop and implement trafficking courses for the 
National Police academy. In 2005 and 2006, IOM provided TIP 
training for a total of approximately 25 Bangladeshi 
diplomats. The Foreign Ministry has indicated an interest in 
further training, and has discussed the creation of a new 
module on migration and labor trafficking to improve the 
ability and responsiveness of Bangladeshi embassy consular 
officers to handle these types of cases. 
 
Another GOB program with IOM support provided TIP training to 
over 520 police station chiefs (out of a total of 580), to 
enhance investigative techniques, cooperate with prosecutors 
and civil society organizations, and prepare charge sheets on 
TIP cases. 
 
The GOB continues to work with the Embassy to develop and 
provide specialized training for TIP prosecutors. One 
three-week session organized in 2006 trained 90 participants, 
from both legal and law enforcement agencies, in 
investigation techniques, trial preparation, and 
presentation. 
 
-- J. The GOB coordinates with other governments in the 
investigation, repatriation and rehabilitation of trafficking 
victims.  Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a Bilateral Labor 
Agreement in 2005 which governs rules on Bangladeshi 
expatriate laborers in Malaysia. Under this agreement, in 
2006 the GOB and Malaysia coordinated a crackdown on 
Bangladeshi recruitment agencies which sent Bangladeshi 
laborers to Malaysia under false pretenses or with falsified 
documentation.  These recruitment agencies were blacklisted 
from sending laborers to Malaysia in the future.  The GOB and 
Indian government are collaborating on a joint action plan to 
repatriate child trafficking victims. 
 
-- K. There are no pending extradition requests involving 
trafficking.  There is no constitutional provision 
 
DHAKA 00000335  007 OF 010 
 
 
prohibiting extradition. Civil society groups involved in 
trafficking issues have entered in discussions with the GOB 
on the possibility of signing bilateral TIP extradition 
treaties as part of an initiative by the South Asian 
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to combat 
trafficking. 
 
-- L. There is no evidence of systemic government involvement 
in or tolerance for trafficking. 
 
-- M. Since June 2004, there are four pending trafficking 
cases involving 13 GOB officials charged with trafficking. 
These cases are in various states of investigation and/or 
prosecution. 
 
In November 2006, five immigration officers are under 
investigation and have been suspended in relation to the 
potential trafficking of 30 women to Lebanon through Zia 
international airport. The arrests led to raids on five 
recruitment agencies by the para-military Rapid Action 
Battalion and their de-licensing. 
 
In February 2007, former deputy inspector of police Anisur 
Rahman and his wife were arrested and charged with kidnapping 
and intent to traffic.  The couple claimed that seven 
children of the same age living in their home were their 
septuplets, but refused to take a DNA test to prove their 
parentage. Alena Khan of the Bangladesh Society for the 
Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) filed the original 
complaint under the Women and Children Repression Prevention 
Act. 
 
-- N. Bangladesh is not a source or destination for child sex 
tourism. 
 
-- O. International Instruments: 
i) ILO Convention 182 (ratified in 2001); 
ii) ILO Convention 29 and 105 (ratified in 1972); 
iii) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child 1989 (ratified in 2000); 
iv) Protocol to Prevent and Suppress and Punish trafficking 
in Persons, especially Women and Children (not signed). 
 
¶5. Protection and Assistance to Victims 
 
-- A. The GOB supports one-stop crisis centers in Dhaka 
hospitals that, in cooperation with NGOs, provide legal, 
medical, and psychiatric services to victims.  Most victim 
services, however, are provided at NGO-run shelters.  Since 
2004, the GOB has referred 534 victims of internal 
trafficking for such services.  Of these, 39 women and 
children were still in NGO-run shelters, 11 were in 
government-run shelters, and the remaining 484 had returned 
to their families or guardians. 
 
-- B. The GOB does not fund NGOs to provide victim services, 
but there is good coordination and cooperation between the 
government and the NGOs. In 2006, the Bangladeshi NGO INCIDIN 
opened a pilot shelter for street children at Dhaka,s main 
train station in Kamalpur.  The GOB provided a public 
structure suitable to serve as the shelter, and has discussed 
with INCIDIN how to expand the program. 
 
-- C. There is no formal system for identifying trafficking 
victims among high-risk persons with whom they come into 
 
DHAKA 00000335  008 OF 010 
 
 
contact. There is no formal process for referring victims of 
internal trafficking to NGOs for shelter and other services, 
but in practice the courts and MOHA officials regularly refer 
victims to NGOs. In the case of the camel jockeys, a process 
was set up to send the boys first to a shelter in the UAE, 
and then to one of two shelters in Bangladesh depending on 
the age and needs of the boy.  Older boys who wanted only 
vocational training went to the Dhaka Ahsania Mission 
shelter, while younger boys, boys who required Bangla 
language and culture classes, and boys who were interested in 
following an academic course of study, went to the Bangladesh 
National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) shelter. 
 
-- D. The rights of victims are generally respected, and 
women are not routinely jailed for having been trafficked. 
However, government-run shelters remain inadequate, which is 
one reason NGOs began providing shelter services and often 
receive referrals from the government.  Since Bangladesh is 
not a destination country for trafficking, deportations and 
immigration fines do not apply. 
 
-- E. Police anti-trafficking units encourage victims and 
witnesses to assist in the investigation and prosecution of 
cases.  Since trials are rarely continuous, and even one 
witness's testimony may be heard in a handful of court 
sessions over a period of months, this type of support is 
important for mounting effective prosecutions.  Several NGOs 
assist and encourage victims to file civil suits.  However, 
no civil cases have been filed yet.  Witnesses may leave the 
country with the permission of the court (in criminal cases) 
or by informing the court (in civil cases).  There is no 
victim restitution program. 
 
-- F. The GOB has developed a regional witness and victim 
protection protocol in conjunction with IOM.  This protocol 
consists of a series of policies the GOB has begun 
implementing on an ad hoc basis, including protections for 
trafficking victims and witnesses to testify. For example, 
there are policies to permit the witness to submit testimony 
in writing or to testify only to the judge, and to make it 
easier to change the venue of the trial. The district police 
monitoring units cooperate with NGOs in victim and witness 
protection during the trial stage.  In practice, most victims 
are referred to NGO-run shelters. 
 
-- G.  With the assistance of IOM, the GOB provided training 
on TIP-related issues to 520 police station chiefs in 2006. 
This training focused on enhancing the capacity of law 
enforcement officers to handle TIP cases more efficiently and 
better protect and assist trafficking victims. The GOB is 
also planning a training course for land-port immigration 
officials on prevention of trafficking. The GOB provides 
specialized TIP training to its border security forces, the 
Bangladesh Rifles and the ANSAR. 
 
In 2006, IOM gave an anti-TIP course to entry-level officers 
at MFA's diplomatic training academy.  The Foreign Ministry 
has indicated an interest for follow-on trainings that would 
also include an added module on labor trafficking for their 
embassy consular officers, in order to improve their 
awareness of the labor trafficking problem and enhance their 
ability to respond to such cases more effectively. The GOB 
has instructed its embassies and consulates to develop 
relationships with NGOs that assist TIP victims. 
 
 
DHAKA 00000335  009 OF 010 
 
 
-- H. The GOB works closely with NGOs to provide medical 
assistance, shelter, and legal and psychiatric services to 
trafficking victims.  Repatriated camel jockeys are receiving 
approximately $1,500 each from the UAE government, 
facilitated by the GOB and UNICEF. 
 
-- I. NGOs working with trafficking victims: 
i) Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association: shelter, 
legal, psychiatric services; 
ii) Ahsania Mission: shelter, legal, vocational services; 
iii) Association for Community Development: shelter and 
psychiatric services; 
iv) Rights Jessore: shelter and psychiatric services; 
v) Savior Jessore: shelter and psycho social services; 
vi) IOM: training for diplomats and police; inter-agency 
coordination; and 
vii) UNICEF: assisted in repatriation of camel jockeys; 
advocacy and training on trafficking issues; bilateral 
government activities with Bangladesh and India; 
viii) INCIDIN: child rights, shelter for street children 
 
The GOB collaborates extensively with all of these 
organizations. 
 
¶5.  Heroes 
 
Post nominates two organizations that have been powerful 
advocates for child rights as anti-trafficking heroes for 
this year: 
 
-- A. Alena Khan, Executive Director of the Bangladesh 
Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR). In June 
2006, Khan and BSEHR demanded an investigation into whether 
or not a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and 
his wife had kidnapped seven children with the intent to 
traffic them.  Former DIG Anisur Rahman and his wife Anwara 
claimed the seven children, all under three years old, were 
their biological septuplets, although they already had seven 
other children of their own. Khan obtained a court order 
requiring the couple to get DNA tests to prove their 
parentage, with BSEHR offering to pay.  The couple refused 
even under court order, and Khan then filed a complaint with 
the police under the Repression of Women and Children 
Prevention Act. A Dhaka court sent Anisur to jail in 
February, denying his motion for bail and ordering an 
investigation. In pursuing this case, Khan and BSEHR 
demonstrated courage in challenging a former high-level 
police official, and ensured that the seven children were 
removed from the Rahman household pending resolution of the 
case. (NOTE: Khan holds a valid five-year U.S. visa.) 
 
-- B. INCIDIN. The Bangladeshi NGO INCIDIN is one of the most 
prominent advocates of children,s rights in the country. It 
is also the first NGO in the country to tackle such sensitive 
issues as underage male prostitution, a little-discussed 
problem in the country.  INCIDIN has worked to remove the 
stigma of discussing this subject and to shed light on this 
phenomenon. INCIDIN opened a safe-night shelter for street 
children in Dhaka in 2005 and has worked with the GOB to 
expand the program to other parts of the country. (NOTE: AKM 
Masud Ali, Executive Director of INCIDIN, holds a valid 
five-year U.S. visa.) 
 
¶6. Best Practices 
 
 
DHAKA 00000335  010 OF 010 
 
 
The establishment of 64 district level anti-trafficking 
committees (one for every district in Bangladesh) should be 
considered a best practice.  Trying to combat trafficking by 
involving local resources and breaking the issue down into 
smaller, more manageable units seems like a logical and 
easily replicable option for other countries. 
 
Staff at post has participated in several district level 
meetings which include key GOB representatives (district 
police chief, public prosecutors, social welfare staff, 
locally elected municipal/council members, etc.) as well as 
civil society activists.  These committees meet periodically, 
but no less than monthly, to review pending trafficking cases 
in their area, promote and coordinate awareness raising 
activities, highlight critical issues for their locality such 
as identified trafficking areas or border crossing points and 
the maintain local level vigilance against this crime. 
 
Solutions vary from district to district depending on their 
particular situation but the aim is always the same: to 
mitigate human trafficking and to bring justice to 
traffickers and victims.  These committees prepare monthly 
reports on progress on arrests, adjudication of cases, 
sentences for convicted traffickers and status of those 
rescued.  This reporting mechanism has provided decision 
makers with much needed information to adjust programs, 
configure new programs and how to allocate limited resources. 
 Post nominates this arrangement as a low-cost, low-tech 
methodology that mobilizes local resources to attack 
trafficking on a daily basis. 
PASI