Bangladesh doesn’t fully meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking

Bangladesh has not fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so, according to the US Department of State’s annual report on human trafficking.

The 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report was published on Thursday. It is available on the US Department of State’s website.

The report said the Bangladesh “government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore, Bangladesh remained on Tier 2.”. Among Bangladesh’s neighbours, India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are also in this tier.

Countries that have made significant progress in combating human trafficking and fully met the minimum standards set by relevant US legislation are placed in Tier 1.

Countries that have not fully met the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to do so are placed in Tier 2. A separate Tier 2 Watch List is maintained for certain countries in this category. Countries that have not fully met the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are placed in Tier 3.

The report said the Bangladesh government’s efforts “efforts included passing the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants Ordinance 2026 to strengthen the legal framework to combat trafficking, increasing investigations and prosecutions, updating the human trafficking crime and victim identification guidelines, and piloting a digital NRM to increase timeliness and coordination of referrals to protection services. The government also strengthened protections for migrant workers to reduce vulnerabilities to trafficking.”

However, the Bangladesh government had failed to meet the minimum standards in several key areas. It said fewer human traffickers had been convicted than in the previous reporting period. The government had not taken adequate steps to address internal trafficking crimes, which remained widespread.

The report also said, “The government identified fewer victims, and victim protection and reintegration efforts remained insufficient, particularly for Rohingya refugees and returning Bangladeshi migrant workers.”

“Additionally, the government continued to permit worker-paid recruitment fees that rendered many migrant workers indebted, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking,” the report added.