Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Bangladesh lauded for anti-trafficking efforts


BANGLADESH NEWS

Bangladesh has been upgraded to “Tier 2” ranking in the US Trafficking in Persons Report for 2012 as it made progress in addressing human trafficking.

According to a report of the US State Department on Wednesday, Bangladesh has been listed in Tier 2 category of states that do not fully comply with international anti-trafficking standards.

The United States called Bangladesh “a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the release of the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) on June 19 in Washington, DC.

The theme of this year’s TIP Report is “The Promise of Freedom,” which encourages every government, including the United States, to commit to fulfilling the promise of freedom from slavery embodied in modern anti-trafficking laws and international protocols by punishing traffickers, providing services and legal recourse to victims and preventing the crime of trafficking from occurring.

This year's Report includes narratives of 186 countries and territories.

According to the report, Bangladesh was upgraded to “Tier 2” in recognition of the Government of Bangladesh’s important accomplishments in the past year, including enactment of the landmark Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act which was passed by parliament as law in February this year, as well as launch of a National Plan of Action for Combating Human Trafficking in May 2012.

“These steps ensure Bangladesh has a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder legal framework to address all forms of trafficking, including labor trafficking and trafficking of men,” the TIP report said.

It said Bangladesh’s immediate challenge and opportunity will be to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the new law and plan of action to develop an effective regime of prevention, protection and prosecution.

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