EMBASSY DHAKA INPUT TO NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 14 DHAKA 000177

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR: USAID, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, IWI, PRM, SCA/RA, SCA/PB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ASEC ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG
BG
SUBJECT: EMBASSY DHAKA INPUT TO NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
(TIP) REPORT

REF:A) 08 DHAKA 290, B) 08 SECSTATE 5577, C) 08 SECSTATE 132759

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SUMMARY
--------------

1. This report covers anti-trafficking efforts by the Government
of Bangladesh (GOB) from April 2008 to February 2009. Paragraph
three begins text. Embassy point of contact is David Arulanantham,
Political Officer, telephone: 880-2-885-5500 x2148, IVG post-code:
583, fax number: 880-2-882-3744, e-mail: arulananthamdp@state.gov.
Compiling the report required 68 hours at the FS-04 level, 16 hours
at the FS-02 level, and 20 hours by USAID FSNs.


2. From January 2007-January 2009 a military backed caretaker
government, composed of a Chief Adviser and a Council of Advisers
governed Bangladesh. The main goal of the caretaker government was
to prepare the country for national elections and a smooth return to
a democratically elected government. They also carried out a
popular fight against corruption. In the absence of an elected
legislature, the President was empowered to promulgate ordinances.
These ordinances will lapse unless ratified by the new Parliament
within 30 days of its opening session. After successful national
elections on December 29, 2008, the country swore in a new Prime
Minister on January 6, 2009 and Parliament re-convened on January
25, 2009

ANSWERS TO REPORTING QUESTIONS
--------------

3. The country's TIP situation

-- A. The chief source of official information on TIP is the
Monitoring Cell for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children,
located at the Police Headquarters in Dhaka. This six person cell
is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and collects data on
trafficking victims and law enforcement efforts. Monitoring units
collect data on trafficking in each of the 64 districts throughout
the country which then feed into the National Monitoring Cell in
Dhaka. Separately, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training
(BMET) within the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas
Employment (MEWOE) provides information on the flow of migrant
workers abroad. BMET has offices in over 21 districts and has made
registration compulsory for job seekers. MEWOE also tracks responses
to complaints received overseas by Bangladeshi Labor Attaches from
expatriate Bangladeshi workers. Additional sources of information
include the media, NGOs, and international donor partners.

There are no plans to expand documentation of human trafficking.
These sources are generally reliable, though there have not been any
recent comprehensive studies to estimate the number of trafficking
cases that go unreported and the numbers that go abroad through
unofficial channels.

-- B. Bangladesh remains a country of origin and transit,
especially
for women and children. Trafficking also occurs internally. No areas
of the country are outside of the GOB's control, but law enforcement
capabilities in remote rural areas are limited. The Caretaker
Government that was in power from January 2007 until January 2009,
launched a drive to fight corruption and improve law enforcement.
The GOB also paid special attention to unethical labor recruitment
agencies that have been implicated in labor trafficking. The newly
elected government has promised to continue these efforts.

A significant number of persons (over 100) from Bangladesh are
trafficked internally and externally to India, Pakistan, the Middle
East (particularly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates) and Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia, for

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the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude,
and debt bondage. No comprehensive studies of the extent of human
trafficking in Bangladesh have been conducted for the purposes of
statistical reporting. In the absence of quantitative data, it is
difficult to characterize trends but anecdotal evidence suggests
that patterns have largely remained the same from the previous year.
Civil society groups estimate that the number of women and children
trafficked every year is 10,000-20,000. Trafficking remains a matter
of serious concern for the GOB, and civil society and public
awareness is high. NGOs indicate anecdotally that the trafficking
of women and children is abating. Simultaneously, they perceive an
increase in the detainment of traffickers and the rescue of TIP
victims. Between April 2008 and February 2009, MOHA reported a total
of 251 victims rescued by law enforcement agencies, as opposed to 92
over the same period last year, representing a nearly 173 percent
increase.

-- C. Victims are trafficked into a variety of conditions. Women and
female children are often trafficked into conditions of sexual
exploitation; some are sold off in auctions and subsequently forced
to work in brothels where they may service an average of ten clients
a day and contract sexually transmitted diseases. The Bangladesh
National Women Lawyers Association estimates that the single largest
group of foreigners in Indian brothels is Bangladeshi nationals.
Young boys have been trafficked to the Middle East to work as camel
jockeys in the past, though this practice has virtually ended. Media
reports and some NGOs state that some adult men and women have been
trafficked for medical purposes, and are sent to hospitals in India
so that their organs can be harvested and sold off. Finally, many
young men have left for the Middle East where they find their pay
and working conditions to be significantly different from what they
had been initially promised. In some cases their employers hold
their passport, making it difficult for these individuals to leave
the country. Quite frequently, the workers do not receive their
wages, have amounts deducted from their paycheck or are
significantly underpaid. In many instances they work for a large
majority of time to simply pay off the debt they incurred to go
abroad as laborers to the Middle East.

-- D. The poor and uneducated face the greatest risk of trafficking.
Individuals seek employment outside their home communities and
families are forced to sell their children because of economic
hardship. In many cases the parties concerned are aware that they
may be trafficked but take the risk anyway. 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.

-- E. Depending on the case, traffickers include individuals with a
personal connection to the victim, brokers connected with regional
gangs, and recruiting agencies offering promises of jobs abroad.

Some victims of trafficking report they were n enticed by false
promises of marriage or employment. Traffickers may also kidnap or
purchase minors from their parents. In some cases, parents or
guardians take trafficked children to a worksite and then leave them
with their employers. Often, traffickers dupe poor families to
believe that the traffickers can provide better economic or
educational opportunities for their children but more often than not
children are given away out of sheer economic desperation. The
Center for Women and Child Services reports that trafficked boys are
generally under the age of 10 years and that trafficked girls are
generally between 11 and 16 years.

Adult males go abroad or to other parts of the country (typically
Dhaka) in search of work as laborers to support their families back
home. The vast majority of workers going abroad choose the Middle

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East and Southeast Asia. BMET reports that it processed applications
for over 875,000 workers during calendar year 2008. mainly to the
Persian Gulf countries. The United Arab Emirates was the main
recipient of Bangladeshi workers in 2008. Remittances topped $8
billion in 2008, though NGOs estimate that as much as $4 billion
more comes through unofficial channels. Expatriate labor
remittances are the second largest source of foreign currency for
Bangladesh.

While the majority of Bangladeshi expatriate laborers work under
legitimate contracts, NGOs report that many are victims of fraud and
many of those are trafficked, though exact numbers are difficult to
ascertain. Some are trafficked after arriving in their intended
destination country or while in transit. Workers typically incur
large debts (paid to recruiters or their brokers) to cover illegal
processing fees for labor contracts and visas. The official ceiling
for recruiting fees is 84,000 taka (approximately $1,235) but
according to NGOs workers typically pay as much as 400,000 taka or
more ($5,880). Traffickers often change the terms of the workers'
contract or fail to live up to the stated conditions. They sometimes
use physical violence and threats to compel involuntary labor.

Fake birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates are widely
available, and few people in rural areas register births
(nationally
less than 10% of live births are registered) or marriages. Many
Bangladeshis use at least two birth dates: the actual date of their
birth, and a fake birth-date used for official
school records and employment purposes. Based on the ubiquity of
fake/unverifiable documents, real passports
are granted for fake identities.

Progress on the rehabilitation of former camel jockeys in the UAE
continues. Since 2005, the UAE has repatriated a total of 199 boys
originally trafficked as camel jockeys following
an agreement between the two governments. In the past year, the UAE
has repatriated no former camel jockeys. (Most repatriation
occurred in 2005 and 2006.) All but one former camel jockey have
been reintegrated into their home communities. Unofficially, since
2005, at least 32 boys have
returned from the UAE to Bangladesh through other channels.

According to GOB reports, no camel jockeys of Bangladeshi origin
remain in the UAE. Former jockeys report that some trafficked
camel
jockeys have chosen to stay on in the UAE and are pursuing other
employment options, sometimes continuing in the camel racing field
in capacities other than jockeys. (There is no evidence they were
re-trafficked.)


4. Setting the scene for the government's anti-TIP efforts

-- A. The GOB acknowledges that trafficking is a problem in the
country and has taken active measures, working in coordination with
civil society and donor partners, to combat the problem. Trafficking
has received attention from the highest levels of government,
including the former Home Adviser and the Home Secretary and
combating it has been a national priority. In Bangladesh, however,
as in many parts of the region, human trafficking is most commonly
understood as the trafficking of women and children. This
definition corresponds with the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation's anti-trafficking convention, and Bangladesh's main
anti-trafficking legislation. Thus, there is less sensitivity to the
trafficking of adult males and bonded labor. Perceptions are
changing, especially at the law enforcement levels as the efforts of
the government and NGOs increase awareness levels. Although
Bangladesh's labor and criminal laws penalize involuntary and bonded

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labor, there remains a lack of clarity on the definition of certain
labor abuses and labor law violations as potentially being a form of
trafficking. However, the MOHA and MEWOE have accepted that certain
labor law abuses and violations (including involuntary servitude and
indentured labor) are forms of trafficking, particularly when
associated with expatriate laborers.

-- B. The lead agency in anti-trafficking efforts is the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MOHA),which closely coordinates and oversees the
Monitoring Cell. In June 2008, the Ministry also set up the
"Trafficking in Human Beings Investigation Unit," with 12 police
officers who are given special training on investigative techniques.
The BMET, within the MEWOE licenses labor agencies and places
labor
attaches in designated GOB diplomatic missions.

The Home Secretary continued to chair the monthly inter-ministerial
National Anti-Trafficking Committee Meeting, which was attended by
representatives from other departments and ministries in the
government. The Committee's main purpose is to monitor the progress
of activities undertaken by various government entities. The Home
Secretary also chaired the monthly meeting with civil society and
donor partners, the GO-NGO National Coordination Committee for
Combating Trafficking. This committee includes representatives from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA),the Ministry of Women and
Children's Affairs, the Attorney General's Office, international
organizations and foreign missions. The committee coordinates local
and national anti-trafficking efforts and works to share
responsibilities, resulting in the reduction of overlapping
responsibilities.

Other GOB actors involved with anti-trafficking efforts include the
Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of
Information, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Labor
and
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 ANSAR local militia force, the
paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, the Bangladesh
Rifles border guard force, the Coast Guard, and the police.

-- C. Bangladesh's inefficient judicial system constrains the GOB's
ability to successfully prosecute trafficking offenses.
Bangladesh's courts are plagued by a high case backlog and
procedural loopholes that create significant delays. Lack of
sufficient training for judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
agents who draft charge sheets continue to constrain the
prosecution
of trafficking cases. These delays create situations in which
traffickers can pressure families to negotiate out-of-court
settlements; for trafficking victims (or their families) the choice
of an immediate financial payoff is more certain and preferable to
the possibility of a court verdict in their favor anywhere from two
to six or more years in the future. Thus, the case backlog and
procedural delays endemic to the Bangladeshi court system limit the
ability of the GOB to successfully prosecute trafficking crimes.
The GOB has sought to address deficiencies in the legal system by
working with the International Organization on Migration (IOM),the
Daywalka Foundation, and the US Department of Justice to provide
training for prosecutors. Overall resource constraints and high
levels of corruption also hinder the government's ability to combat
the problem of trafficking.

Separately, the GOB also has special tribunals for adjudicating
cases of violence against women and children. There are currently
42 courts in 32 districts of the country.

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-- D. The Monitoring Cell systematically collects data on
trafficking
arrests, prosecutions, and rescues. This information is updated on
a monthly basis and is available to Post and other interested
donors. One of the functions performed by the cell is coordination
and analysis of local-level information from regional
anti-trafficking units. These regional police units are responsible
for monitoring local trafficking cases and assisting prosecutors in
moving the cases to trial.

District level trafficking-in-persons monitoring committees
continue
to operate in each of Bangladesh's 64 districts, headed by the
Deputy Commissioner (the principal government officer at the
district level). Among other responsibilities, these local
committees monitor selected trafficking cases and provide monthly
progress reports on arrests, convictions, acquittals, and
repatriation of trafficked victims.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, now publishes an annual Bangladesh
Country Report on Combating Trafficking in Women and Children. The
last report was published in February 2008. Post will provide the
latest version to G/TIP as soon as it is available.

Following the monthly GO-NGO and National Anti-Trafficking Committee
meetings, the government takes action to prevent trafficking through
public service announcements and other outreach activities, to
coordinate victim care while moving towards minimum care standards
and to bring in
other actors, as needed, to enhance the prosecution of cases.

The GOB is also conducting several public awareness programs under
the aegis of the National Action Plan on TIP, 2008.


5. Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers

There were no new anti-trafficking ordinances promulgated in
Bangladesh since last year's report.

-- A. Bangladesh does not have a comprehensive law prohibiting
trafficking in persons for sexual and non-sexual purposes. The
deficiency of Bangladesh's central anti-trafficking law is that it
covers only women and children. However, other provisions of
Bangladesh's labor and criminal laws functionally cover trafficking
offenses against men (albeit neglecting the trafficking of men for
sexual purposes). (NOTE: Culturally, it appears that men are not
viewed as potentially being victims of either rape or sexual
trafficking. END NOTE.)

There were no new TIP ordinances in 2008. See Ref. C for a full
inventory of all TIP related laws and Constitutional provisions.


-- B. The most common sentence handed down in sex trafficking cases
is life imprisonment, but sentences can range from 10 years of hard
labor to death. In the past year, MOHA reports that convictions
and
punishments for trafficking under The Repression of Women and
Children Prevention Act of 2000 (Amended in 2003),which includes
sex trafficking and possibly labor trafficking as well increased
significantly. This included the following: 26 individuals being
sentenced to life imprisonment, 11 persons received other terms
, and no death sentences as opposed to 11 individuals receiving life
imprisonment, four receiving other terms and no one receiving death
sentences the year before.


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-- C. Comprehensive statistics on the prosecution of labor abuse
violations are not available. The Bangladesh Labor Act of
2006 is applicable domestically, while domestic labor
trafficking violations involving women and children have been
prosecuted under The Repression of Women and Children Prevention
Act
of 2000 (Amended in 2003). MEWOE regulates expatriate worker
recruitment, 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; these constitute a mix of potential civil and
criminal
liabilities. The most common penalties for violations are generally
civil: these include de-licensing, closure of the involved agency,
forfeiture of security bonds, as well as fines.

In 2007, the MEWOE and BMET continued enforcement action on labor
recruiting agencies. In order to obtain a license, labor recruiting
agencies must provide security deposits of 650,000 Taka (less than
US$10,000). (NOTE:
The MEWOE is seeking to have this increased to 1.5M Taka or USD
22,000. END NOTE.) If a recruiting company is shut down, the
performance bonds are liquidated for payment of compensation to
aggrieved workers, who may be victims of trafficking.

-- 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. If a rape corresponds with the death of the rape
victim (aggravated murder),the sentence can range from mandatory
life imprisonment to the death penalty. The penalty for sexual
abuse
ranges from three to ten years of hard labor as well as fines.
These penalties are equivalent in severity to the crimes of
trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

-- E. Government prosecution efforts against traffickers increased
during the reporting year. From January 2008 to February 2009 the
GOB investigated 134
trafficking cases, arrested 166 people on trafficking-related
charges, and initiated 90 cases (multiple persons per case is
possible) as opposed to 107 cases investigated, 81 people arrested
and 94 cases initiated the year before. During this period, 35 cases
were concluded as opposed to 29 the year before. The courts
issued convictions in 18 cases as opposed to 15 the year before,
with 26 individuals receiving sentences of life imprisonment, and 11
receiving sentences of lesser prison terms. The numbers of criminals
receiving life imprisonment and other terms for the previous
reporting period are as stated above: 11 and four. (Within the past
year, the courts issued no death sentences for TIP related
convictions.) This leaves 38 persons acquitted in 17 cases..
Though early to make firm conclusions it does appear that once
convicted, traffickers generally serve their time.

Bangladeshi law treats certain types of cases as acquittals that in
other jurisdictions would likely be treated as mistrials. Many TIP
cases are settled out of court, and in some cases witnesses do not
show up for the trial for fear of retribution. Generally, these
settlements are made outside of the legal system and involve
informal arrangements of cash payments (technically, these
arrangements are prosecutable against the person offering the
inducements). Since these cases are counted as acquittals, it
distorts the numbers of defendants found innocent. There is no
mechanism for plea bargaining in trafficking cases, and imposing
only a fine is not a sentencing option.

Out-of-court settlements may be preferred by TIP victims for fear of
retribution from the trafficker and because of the extended time

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requirements for a full case, which can take 2 to 6 years for
resolution, on average. Given the possibility of extensive
procedural delays, victims and their families may choose an
immediate pay-off to the prospect of receiving justice many years
later. The social stigma associated with trafficking situations is
another reason victims may prefer a quick resolution of the case.

In 2008, the GOB continued investigations and prosecution of cases
against labor recruiters who made knowingly fraudulent or
deceptive offers. In early 2007, as part of a wider anti-corruption
effort, investigators uncovered linkages between recruitment
agencies and other corruption cases. Investigations are still
on-going in many of these cases. Between January 2008 and February
2009 a total of nine recruiting agencies were shut down, 25 had
their licenses cancelled, six had to forfeit their security money,
seven were suspended, and three new cases were filed against labor
recruiting agencies. In the previous reporting year, five agencies
were closed down and four labor recruiters were prosecuted.
According to MEWOE, there were 1,010 complaints during the year, of
which 745 were disposed.

MEWOE has taken some proactive steps to reduce opportunities for the
deception and exploitation of expatriate workers. The governments
of South Korea and Bangladesh agreed to eliminate the role of
recruitment agencies and to instead have the Ministry of Expatriate
Welfare recruit the workers directly. The GOB has also attempted to
sign memoranda of understanding with various labor destination
countries in order to get them to comply with minimum international
labor standards. In addition, a non-profit micro-credit institution
set up by the government has been offering low interest loans to
workers going abroad to offset the problem of workers incurring
large sums of debt.

MEWOE officials note in some cases of labor trafficking abroad,
agents may induce returnee victims to not file cases against them,
in exchange for priority treatment and placement in "good" work
environments, with legitimate contracts.

-- F. In 2008 the GOB continued implementation of trafficking
courses for the National Police Academy, reaching a total of 2,827
police officers. In the 2008 calendar year, IOM provided TIP
training for a total of
approximately 12 labor attachs going to 10 countries, and to 28
land-port
immigration officials. The GOB continued working with USAID to
develop and provide specialized TIP training for police officers
and
court inspectors.

-- G. The GOB coordinates with other governments in the
investigation, repatriation and rehabilitation of trafficking
victims; the repatriation of Bangladeshi camel jockeys best
exemplifies a systematic cooperation effort. The GOB and the
Government of India are collaborating on a joint action plan to
repatriate child trafficking victims. Bangladesh claims it has
completed its requirements, and is now waiting for action from the
Indian side on implementation of the plan. Unofficially, government
and NGO sources report good cooperation with India's Border Security
Forces, the Bangladesh Police and the Bangladesh Rifles on issues of
trafficking and cross-border movements.

-- H. There are no pending extradition requests involving
trafficking. There is no constitutional provision prohibiting
extradition but Bangladesh has only signed an extradition treaty
with Thailand. Civil society has reported no further progress on
the possibility of signing bilateral TIP extradition treaties as
part of an initiative by the South Asian Association for Regional

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Cooperation (SAARC) to combat trafficking.

-- I. There is no evidence of systemic government involvement in or
tolerance for trafficking. To the contrary, this issue has received
attention at the highest levels of government. Some NGOs, however,
have spoken of a nexus between certain politicians and corrupt
recruiting agencies as well as some village level brokers,
politicians and regional gangs involved in carrying out trafficking
activities. None of this has yet been proven.

-- J. See above. In the past year there was no evidence of any
links between government officials and trafficking. In 2006, there
were a total of four cases involving 20 government officials
possibly complicit in trafficking activities which had been filed by
the government or pending from previous years. Two of these cases
remain pending. One of the cases was disposed with the five
defendants being acquitted. One other case was shown to be a case
not involving "official complicity" and remains under trial.

The police have taken a few steps to prevent complicity by low level
officials in trafficking. There is currently a surveillance team
operating at certain immigration check points along with close
circuit cameras.

-- K. In 2000, the Supreme Court decriminalized prostitution for
women over the age of 18. The act of solicitation, however, still
remains illegal. (See above cited laws on prostitution, pimping,
brothels, and
trafficking.) Women seeking to work legally as a prostitute must
obtain a license from a local magistrate. The punishment for pimps
is ten years to life imprisonment. The minimum age of 18 for legal
female prostitution
can easily be circumvented by false statements of age. The
government rarely prosecuted procurers of minors (no prosecution
data is available for this crime). Local NGOs estimated the total
number of female prostitutes in Bangladesh to be over
100,000. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated in 2004 that
there were 10,000 underage girls used in commercial sexual
exploitation in the country, but other estimates placed the figure
as high as 29,000.

-- L. Bangladesh is the second largest contributor to UN
Peacekeeping Forces abroad, after Pakistan. According to media
reports, in the past, GOB forces were part of the broader
investigations into abuses by forces in the Ivory Coast and Sierra
Leone. The MOFA confirmed that there were some allegations against
soldiers in Sierra Leone but was unable to provide specifics about
the outcome of any incident. Figures about the actual severity of
this problem are also unavailable. According to the MOFA,
complaints about Bangladeshi troops go to the Armed Forces Division,
which can administer a range of sanctions within the military court
system.

-- M. Bangladesh has no known problem with child sex tourism.


6. Protection and Assistance to Victims

-- A. The GOB has developed a regional witness and victim
protection
protocol in conjunction with IOM. This protocol includes a
series of policies the GOB has begun implementing, including
protections for trafficking victims and witnesses. District
police monitoring units cooperate with NGOs in victim and witness
protection during the trial stage. Overall, the ability of the
government to offer protection to witness is hampered by the social
stigma that exists for trafficking victims and the relative economic
power and influence that many traffickers have in society.

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-- B. Bangladesh is a source country for trafficking and as such
does not have any foreign victims. The GOB supports shelter homes
and one-stop crisis centers in Dhaka hospitals. There are six safe
homes for women and children, which are manned by the Ministry of
Social Welfare. Because of resource constraints, the prevailing
conception of TIP and the greater stigma women and children face,
these safe homes focus on women and children. These centers, in
cooperation with NGOs, provide legal, medical, and psychiatric
services to victims of trafficking. Victim services are also
provided at NGO-run shelters. This past year, a total of 204
individuals were referred to these services. No information is
available on the total number of trafficking victims currently in
NGO homes: however, for NGO homes supported by USAID, over 410
trafficking victims were assisted from October 2007 to September

2008.

-- C. The GOB provides victims with access to very basic legal,
medical and psychological services. The GOB does not fund NGOs to
provide victim services, but there is good coordination and
cooperation between the government and the NGOs. In some cases,
MEWOE works with foreign NGOs to assist expatriate workers. The GOB
pays approximately 1.4 million Taka ($20,000) each year for its
membership in the UN-affiliated IOM.

-- D. See above. Bangladesh is a source, not a destination country
for trafficking victims.

-- E. See above. Because of funding constraints the government is
limited in its ability to provide long term assistance; this has
largely been the domain of the NGOs. The MEWOE operates four
shelter homes to assist female Bangladeshi workers in Riyadh,
Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. They report having three more shelters
in Kuala Lumpur, likely in collaboration with local NGOs.
Domestically, the Ministry of Social Welfare operates six shelters
for female and child victims (including but not exclusive to
trafficking victims). These shelters have a total capacity of 1900
people, and are located in the divisional headquarter cities of
Dhaka (Tongi),Sylhet, Barisal, Rajshahi, Chittagong, and Bagerhat.
In addition, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs operated
three shelter homes in Dhaka: two in Lalmatia and one in Gazipur.
The total number for the entire 2008 period is unavailable, but is
likely higher. No statistic is available on the total number of
trafficking victims currently in NGO homes in Bangladesh. For NGO
homes supported by USAID, more than400
trafficking victims have been assisted in the past year.

The government also partially funds an IOM Project, "The Prevention
and Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking in Bangladesh."
Through the project, the IOM has taken started new ventures like
coffee shops managed by trafficking victims and plans other
livelihood programs to help reintegrate these individuals into
society.

-- F. The formal process for referring victims of internal
trafficking to shelter homes and NGOs is through the courts, or
referral by the police or Home Ministry officials.

Bangladesh's courts and police often refer victims of trafficking
to
(NGO)-run shelters. Post works with four NGO shelter homes: BNWLA
in Dhaka, Dhaka Ahsania Mission in
Jessore, TMSS in Bogra, and ACD in Rajshahi. At NGO shelters,
victims typically receive a mix of individual counseling,
vocational
training, health care, and legal assistance.


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Community involvement in anti-trafficking committees and pro-active
work done by many local government officials is also essential in
identifying at risk persons.


-- G. NGOs estimate the total number of trafficking victims to be
approximately 10,000-20,000 women and children in 2008 thought the
exact figure is difficult to estimate. A total of 251 victims were
identified and rescued by law enforcement officials and of these 204
individuals were referred to care facilities by law enforcement
officials.

-- H. Authorities proactively identifypersons and communities facing
a high-risk of trafficking in response to specific events. For
example, after Cyclone Sidr, in 2007, the government instructed
police to be on the look out for potential trafficking victims.
Prostitution is decriminalized for women over 18 in Bangladesh. Post
is not aware of specific efforts by the GOB to screen for
trafficking victims among women involved legally) with
prostitution.

-- I. The rights of victims are generally respected, and the GOB
does not punish trafficking victims. Only when no
space is available in a shelter home will a female victim (as a
ward
of the police or court) have to stay in a jail. Since Bangladesh is
not a destination country for trafficking, deportations and
immigration fines do not apply.

-- J. 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).

Victims of labor trafficking abroad are sometimes able to get
compensation for losses through liquidation of the recruiting
agency's security bonds. The MEWOE "wage earners" fund pays for
lodging abroad and repatriation in some cases. Typically, however,
no back wages have been paid to such victims - usually the damages
paid amount to the fees paid to the recruiter.

-- K. Labor attaches deputed from the Ministry of Expatiate Welfare
and
Overseas Employment serve in 12 Bangladeshi diplomatic missions
abroad: Riyadh, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Manama, Doha, Muscat,
Kuwait City, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tripoli, and Seoul (replacing
Tehran). Bangladesh's labor attaches are specially trained and
charged with responsibility for victim assistance. The Ministry of
Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment received 1,010
complaints
between January 2008 and January 2009. Of these, the government
addressed a total of 745 complaints. In this period, the total
amount of money distributed to expatriate workers by Ministry of
Expatriate
Welfare and Overseas Employment from recruiter's security bonds and
fines is calculated to exceed 94 million taka (approximately
$1,382,352). NGOs concur that since October 2007 over 80 cases have
been resolved by the government against the recruiting agencies.
One individual received a pay out of over 230,000 taka ($3,382).

In 2008 the GOB continued providing trafficking courses for the
National Police Academy, reaching a total of 2,827

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police officers. Also, the government provided TIP training to over
28 land-port immigration officials were in collaboration with USAID.
Training for government officials focuses on enhancing the capacity
of law
enforcement officers to handle TIP cases more efficiently, and to
better protect and assist trafficking victims. The GOB provided
specialized TIP training to its border security forces, the
Bangladesh Rifles (reaching 7,181 members),as well as Ansar and
Village Defense Party forces (reaching 833,778 members).

In 2008, IOM provided TIP training for 12 Bangladeshi diplomats.
MOHA officials also conducted an all-day roundtable discussion with
IOM on the role of Bangladeshi diplomats in combating TIP. During
this meeting GOB officials discussed a new MOFA circular entitled
"Guidelines for Bangladesh Missions Abroad to Combat Trafficking in
Persons."
This guidance instructed its embassies and consulates on procedures
for assisting victims of TIP, on developing relationships with
other ministries to facilitate assistance to TIP victims.

-- L. See answers to questions above. The government does provide
assistance to its nationals who are repatriated as victims, but
faces financial constraints. Bangladesh's labor attaches are
specially
trained and charged with responsibilities for victim assistance.
Although driven by a larger agenda of helping all Bangladeshi
expatriate workers, support and advocacy services (for making
complaints in the host country) are also available to victims of
trafficking.

The GOB works closely with NGOs to provide medical assistance,
shelter, and legal and psychiatric services to trafficking victims.
Abroad, at least four shelter homes have been established by the
MEWOE, specifically to assist female Bangladeshi workers in Riyadh,
Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. At these homes expatriate workers can
receive on an emergency basis food, shelter and arrangements for
repatriation. In Malaysia, MEWOE reports there are three shelter
homes for both male and female expatriate workers; these homes are
likely partially supported by local NGOs. In all situations,
MEWOE's Labor Attaches are charged to provide advocacy services and
to assist with the provision of legal assistance to workers facing
abuses or contract disputes.

The GOB's rehabilitation program for repatriated camel jockeys is
being funded by the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since
August of 2005, collaborative efforts between the GOB, UAE, and
NGOs
have resulted in the repatriation of over 199 boys trafficked to
the
middle-east to serve as camel jockeys. The boys have been housed in
government of NGO-run shelters, and have been provided vocational
training and compensation packages of 104,000 taka ($1,500). In
conjunction with UNICEF, the GOB worked on a second phase to ensure
the sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration of returned camel
jockeys. The second phase will address all former camel jockeys
(since 1993),including 345 former victims who returned to
Bangladesh prior to the 2005 repatriation program. Camel jockeys
who
became handicapped during their exploitation will receive
compensation packages of 300,000 to 500,000 taka ($4,400- 7,200).

-- M. Bangladesh has numerous NGOs working on TIP issues and
assisting trafficking victims:
-Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association: shelter, legal,
psychiatric services;
-Ahsania Mission: shelter, legal, vocational services;
-Association for Community Development: shelter and psychiatric

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services;
-Rights Jessore: shelter and psychiatric services;
-Savior Jessore: shelter and psycho social services;
- TMSS: shelter services;
-IOM: training for diplomats and police, inter-agency coordination;
-UNICEF: assisted in repatriation of camel jockeys, advocacy and
training on trafficking issues; bilateral government activities
with
Bangladesh and India;
-INCIDIN: child rights, shelter for street children;
-The Daywalka Foundation: research, training, TIP policy advocacy.
-Terres des Hommes (Italia): prevention, awareness raising;


5. Prevention

-- A. The GOB continues to implement an extensive, nation-wide
anti-trafficking campaign targeted mostly at potential victims and
law enforcement or other authority figures who could come into
contact with them. From January 2008 through December 2008, the GOB
disseminated TIP messages in various forms, including public service
announcements (PSAs),dramas, discussions, interviews and songs on
the state-owned Bangladesh television (BTV),the only terrestrial TV
channel in Bangladesh. They reported a total of 3,229 individual
spots dealing with TIP in 2008. The GOB also used the state-owned
Bangla Betar radio network for TIP outreach during the same period.


The Ministry of Religious Affairs continued anti-trafficking
outreach during the calendar year 2008, including training religious
teachers on TIP issues (with USAID assistance, approximately 3,100
religious teachers were
trained); they report reaching a total audience of 239,670.
The Ministry of Social Welfare, reported reaching a total
population
of 6,727,822 people through discussions, consultations, training,
motivation, rallies and posters. The Ministry of Women and
Children
Affairs reached a total population of 700,333 persons with TIP
messaging. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education reported
reaching a total population of 13,723,523 persons with TIP
messaging

The TIP Monitoring Cell reports that anti-TIP messaging was
included
in monthly public outreach sessions conducted by Superintendents of
Police, District Commissioners, and Upazilla (county) heads in each
of Bangladesh's 64 districts. Conservative estimates indicate that
at least four million people received TIP awareness messages through
these
outreach efforts in 2008. A total of 843,532 members of the police,
Bangladesh Rifles, ANSAR and Village Defense Parties also received
anti-trafficking
training.


-- B. From January 2008, until December 2008, according to
government figures, immigration and customs
officials did not encounter any potential trafficking victims
at the border. The government 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 on trafficking issues. The Home Ministry
now provides updated numbers of potential victims stopped at the
borders and analyzes them with the
assistance of donor agencies and NGOs to identify trafficking
patterns.


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-- C. See above. 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 on prevention, victim protection, and prosecutions. The
central mechanism for coordination and communication among GOB
ministries and civil society representatives is a monthly
inter-ministerial trafficking-in-persons committee meeting,
involving all relevant GOB ministries. There is also the
coordination committee meeting with NGOs. Both meetings are chaired
by the Home Secretary. Anecdotally, several NGOs have noted that
these meetings are more than just a "talk shop," but that they build
levels of awareness and result in substantive output. The MOHA also
meets regularly with the Embassy to provide updates on their
anti-trafficking efforts.

-- D. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs announced its
National Anti-Trafficking Strategic Plan for Action (NATSPA) in

2006. However, this plan has not been implemented
by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs. The Home MInistry,
is developing its own action plan, the National Plan of Action to
Combat Trafficking in Women and Children (NPACTWC). There is some
discussion at the steering committee level regarding the possibility
of expanding the scope of plan to include trafficking in men as
well, which would then include labor trafficking issues in addition
to sexual trafficking.

-- E. Post is not aware of any actions taken by the GOB to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts. However, the Constitution of
Bangladesh includes the provision of Article 18(2): the State shall
adopt effective measures to prevent prostitution.

-- F. Bangladeshi nationals are not known to be involved in
international child sex tourism.

-- G. The GOB reported that troops and police selected for
peacekeeping
missions receive extensive training on proper conduct while abroad.
On the whole, Bangladeshi nationals value the opportunity to serve
abroad and earn foreign currency. Such assignments can be both
professionally and financially rewarding to the individual in
question. The MOFA reports there are several potential sanctions
for troops engaging in misbehavior of any kind. These include the
requirement to pay ones way back to Bangladesh, the threat of not
being posted again on a second tour and more severe forms of
punishments within the military justice system.

NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES
--------------

6. Heroes

Post nominates the Government of Bangladesh's TIP Monitoring Cell,
which effectively supports both anti-TIP field activities and
continual improvement in the policy and strategic approach to TIP
issues in Bangladesh. On behalf of the officers serving in the
cell, post submits the name of the head of the Cell:

Mr. Humayun Kabir, Assistant Inspector General, Bangladesh National
Police.


7. Best Practices

The national TIP Monitoring Cell at the Police
Headquarters in Bangladesh should be considered a best practice.
Since 2004, the Cell has collected, maintained, and monitored data
on trafficking cases in all 64 districts of the country .

The TIP Monitoring Cell monitors the movement and arrest of

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criminals involved in human trafficking, rescue, recovery and
rehabilitation of TIP victims, prosecution of TIP cases and the
progress of disposal of TIP cases. The Cell coordinates TIP
prevention activities by relevant agencies at airports and the
land-ports. Police monitoring units at each of the 64 district
headquarters provide on a daily basis the central Cell with TIP
statistics including progress on arrests, adjudication of cases,
sentences for convicted traffickers and status of rescued victims.
This is no small feat in a developing country with several areas
that are remote and difficult to reach. The Cell compiles and
prepares periodic reports for the Ministry of Home Affairs and other
TIP committees. Apart from its work in combating TIP, the cell is
one of the few reliable sources of data on TIP in the country.