Human traffickers trap people with technology

Kamal Munshi, 30, from Dakkhin Lonsing village of Naria upazila in Shariatpur left home three years ago to go to Italy illegally. He had no contact with his relatives, not even his mother, mother since 29 June. On that day he set out for Italy crossing the Mediterranean. In the beginning of this month, middlemen informed Nasima Begum that Kamal died while crossing the Mediterranean. His dead body is now in Tunisia. Now the middlemen are demanding money from the family to bring back his dead body.

In the beginning Kamal's family paid Tk 400,000 through the middlemen. Later his family sent at least Tk 1 million in several phases to Libya through another middleman staying in Libya. The middlemen have contacted the Kamal's family of Shariatpur by mainly through Imo and WhatsApp.

According to various analysis on human trafficking at home and abroad, not only in Bangladesh, the human traffickers worldwide are using technology to identify, control and take advantage of people who are at risk of human trafficking.

The use of technology by human traffickers came up for discussion widely after a video of inhuman torture of a Bangladeshi girl in India went viral.

'World Day Against Trafficking In Persons 2022' was observed on 30 July. The theme of this year is 'use and abuse of technology'.

Non-government development organisation BRAC's migration programme conducted a research while working on tackling trafficking of women and children across Bangladesh-India border. The report of the research supported by BRAC University James P Grant School of Public Health said the traffickers are targeting children and youth who are in crisis socially and economically. In all spheres, sending people to Europe via the Mediterranean or trafficking of women and children across Bangladesh-India border, the use of social media has increased.

According to the findings of research, various social media including Facebook is being used in large scale for human trafficking for the last couple of years.

In most of the cases, the girls were lured with promises of jobs, or prospects of becoming film actresses or models. Later they were sold out to human traffickers.

Use of technology by human traffickers came up for discussion anew after a video of inhuman torture of a Bangladeshi girl in India had gone viral last year. In connection with this incident, Indian police arrested six people including Rifadul Islam alias TikTok Ridhoy, a resident of Moghbazar in the capital city.

Meanwhile, police and RAB arrested 12 people of two gangs on the charges of trafficking women. These two gangs trafficked about two thousand women to India, police and RAB have claimed. There are no statistics as to how many women and children have been trafficked to India. However, about two thousand trafficked women have been brought back home in the last ten years.

Meanwhile, the number of people is trying to enter Europe crossing the Mediterranean, Bangladesh is the 3rd on the list. At least 12,636 Bangladeshis have entered Europe in this way in the first six months of 2022. About 65,000 Bangladeshis have entered Europe in the last one decade. Various social media are being used in this trafficking. There are various groups on Facebook called 'Libya to Italy'.

As the technology is being used in human trafficking, so it is being used to protect from trafficking. This technology was used to rescue Shilpi Akhtar, a Class 10 student of Gazipur from Bengaluru of India in February.

The student came to Dhaka with a boy in January. After a several days, the girl phoned her mother and said she along several others were trafficked to India. Later the traffickers sent picture and video of Shilpi and said she is being sent back home. The family instantly handed over the picture and video to the police and requested legal steps. Later police with the cooperation of Indian police and law enforcers rescued the girl and brought her back home.

The government formulated the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act in 2012. Some 6,520 cases have been filed on charges of trafficking over 13,000 people between 2012 and 2022. Over 31,000 people have been made accused in these cases. Only 728 cases have been disposed in last one decade. Only 96 accused have been convicted in 50 cases. Remaining accused have been acquitted of. Over 5,000 cases are now in pending. The rate of case disposal is 11 per cent. Only 2 per cent of the accused have been sentenced.

Babu from Naogaon is a justice seeker. He filed the case on 7 April under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act. The accused arrested in this case has been realsed on bail. Trial has not been completed in nine years.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, UK-based human trafficking affairs research organisation Justice and Care's local director Md Tariqul Islam said, "The human traffickers are trapping people by misusing technology. In such a context, we have to use technology and ensure protection of people from the traps of human traffickers. Above all, those who are involved in human trafficking have to be brought to book."

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam