US Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya has announced a $1 million grant from the State Department to the Freedom Fund and its partners. This program will provide reintegration services to more than 500 children who have been exploited by human traffickers. “Bangladesh is a vital partner in our goal to ensure a more free and open Indo-Pacific. Our partnership is anchored by shared democratic principles and respect for human rights,” Under Secretary Zeya said. Reject violence, support genuinely peaceful democratic process: Uzra Zeya's message to political parties in Bangladesh Zeya and a delegation of senior US government officials from the Department of State, including Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asia Donald Lu, traveled to Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar July 11-14 and met with senior government officials, civil society members, Rohingya refugees, and representatives from humanitarian organizations. Under Secretary Zeya announced more than $74 million in additional US humanitarian assistance to support response efforts in Myanmar and Bangladesh, including nearly $61 million to support Rohingyas internally displaced in Myanmar, refugees in Bangladesh, and their host communities. Heard a ‘strong commitment’ from PM, ministers in support of free, fair, peaceful elections in Bangladesh: Uzra Zeya This brings total assistance to more than $2.1 billion since 2017 to help Rohingyas and host communities, according to the US Embassy in Dhaka. While in Bangladesh, Under Secretary Zeya had productive meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, and other senior officials from the Government of Bangladesh. US visa policy to supplement govt commitment to hold free election: Uzra Zeya tells PM She also met with labor activists, civil society leaders, and human rights defenders.      

Indonesian officials said Sunday they freed 20 of their nationals who were trafficked to Myanmar as part of a cyber scam, amid an increase in human trafficking cases in Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that its embassy in Yangon with help from local networks had managed to release the victims from Myawaddy township and brought them to the Thai border on Saturday. The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok will work closely with Thai authorities to repatriate the victims to Indonesia, the statement said. Myawaddy is in eastern Kayin state along the Thai border and is the site of an armed conflict between Myanmar’s military and ethnic Karen rebels. Fake recruiters had offered the Indonesians high-paying jobs in Thailand but instead trafficked them to Myawaddy, about 567 kilometers (352 miles) south of Naypyidaw, the capital, to perform cyber scams for crypto websites or apps, said Judha Nugraha, an official in Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. The situation drew a national outcry in Indonesia after a video made by one of the victims went viral on social media last month. It showed dozens of grim-faced Indonesian workers in a dormitory room, asking their government to help them out of “the war zone” where they see violence almost every day. “Please help us back to Indonesia, because our life here is very miserable and threatened,” one person said, describing how they had been transferred from one company to other companies over the past eight months before being stranded in Myawaddy. The victim said they were tortured when they failed to reach certain work targets, receiving beatings, electrocutions and other physical punishments. Authorities said the victims were likely trafficked to Myanmar by illegal means since no records were found of their arrival in Myanmar’s immigration system. The case had prompted Indonesian President Joko Widodo to order the Foreign Affairs Ministry to make an “all out” effort to help rescue the victims, telling a news conference on Thursday: “They have been deceived and taken to an unwanted place by the traffickers." It was unclear how their release was secured, but National Police spokesperson Sandi Nugroho said negotiations were held with the company that employed them. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a news conference on Friday that the government is also working to help Indonesian victims of online scams in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. She said the Indonesian Embassy in Manila said Friday that Philippine authorities have rescued more than 1,000 trafficking victims from 10 countries, including 143 Indonesians, who will be repatriated to their countries of origin. “As the chair of ASEAN this year, Indonesia is trying to raise this issue at the 42nd ASEAN Summit,” Marsudi said. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippine, Singapore and Thailand. Indonesia will host the bloc’s leaders’ meeting on May 10-11 in Labuan Bajo on Flores island.

UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons Siobhan Mullally has called for greater accountability and said urgent action is necessary to prevent trafficking, and ensure assistance and protection without discrimination. The UN human rights expert called on Bangladesh to step up efforts to prevent trafficking in persons, especially for purposes of sexual exploitation, child marriage, and forced labour, and urged authorities to improve rights and protection for victims. “Child trafficking is a significant risk, which must be addressed through expanded child protection and increased efforts at birth registration. No community should be left behind,” the UN expert said. She met the media at the city hotel on Wednesday afternoon concluding her 10-day visit in Bangladesh.  Read more: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million The UN expert urged Bangladesh to step up efforts to prevent trafficking particularly for sexual exploitation of persons of diverse gender identities who were at grave risk. Mullally met with a range of survivors and victims of trafficking during her visit, including those who had been trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation, domestic servitude, child and forced marriage. Mullally’s visit took her to Dhaka and Cox’s Bazaar, and to refugee camps hosting almost 1 million Rohingya refugees, and to the city of Sylhet.  She also visited shelter homes for children at risk and victims of trafficking. “More efforts to combat child trafficking is essential, including by improving rates of birth registration for all communities and ending child marriage. We know that the children of sex workers are at great risk, and are often not registered at birth,” Mullally said.

UN Special Rapporteur Siobhán Mullally will assess the human rights issue of trafficking in persons during a ten-day official visit to Bangladesh that began on Monday. “I will pay particular attention to the main challenges to ensuring the human rights of victims, and effective prevention of trafficking,” Mullally said. The Special Rapporteur’s will present a comprehensive report of her visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2023. A particular concern will be the risks of trafficking in the labour migration context, as well as risks faced by refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons, she said. Trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and concerns in relation to child trafficking for all forms of exploitation will also be examined, as will climate-related displacement and increased risks for those directly affected, particularly women and girls in rural areas, and indigenous peoples. “Measures to combat impunity for trafficking in persons, and ensure effective investigations, with participation of victims, including through child friendly justice procedures, will be examined,” she said. The special rapporteur will travel to Dhaka, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. She will meet representatives of government agencies, as well as UN officials, law enforcement bodies, members of civil society organisations and survivors. The special rapporteur will hold a press conference to share her preliminary observations on November 9.  

Officials of the US Embassy in Dhaka Thursday said the country will release its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2022 next week. Calling the report the "world's most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-trafficking efforts," the officials said it will contain information on 188 countries, including the US in 22 chapters. "The US believes the fight against human trafficking is crucial because it is a crime that exists around the world, including in the US. It poses a serious threat to individual welfare, public health, public safety, national security, economic development and prosperity," an official said at a press conference at the American Center in Dhaka. Read: Comprehensive support mechanism sought for trafficking victims The report emphasises the efforts of the governments, not private organisations such as civil societies or international organisations. It also highlights possible steps and shortcomings in the governments' efforts to move forward to curb human trafficking. Working against human trafficking is one of the priorities of the US Embassy in Dhaka, and the mission regularly engages with the Bangladesh government on this to provide adequate support, the officials said. To improve protection services for persons rescued from trafficking and reduce the risk of human trafficking, the US Department of Justice provides training to Bangladeshi law enforcers, prosecutors and judges. The United States Agency for International Development provides long-term support to improve protection services for trafficking survivors and reduce their vulnerability to trafficking. "For the past five years, Bangladesh has been making progress in preventing human trafficking. We are grateful for the long-term cooperation with the Bangladesh government in the fight against human trafficking. Close cooperation between the NGOs and governments is important to stop this crime, and we believe it takes a combined effort of the society to eliminate human trafficking," the officials mentioned. Also read: Human trafficking gang busted in Dhaka, 3 held The TIP Report classifies countries into three tiers based on their performance in combating human trafficking. Tier 1 countries are those that have been assessed to completely comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum requirements for the abolition of trafficking. Countries assessed as not fully meeting the minimum standards, but making significant efforts to meet them, are placed in Tier 2. And countries assessed as not fully meeting the minimum standards and not making significant efforts to do so are ranked Tier 3. Bangladesh moved from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in 2020.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has claimed to have busted an international human kidney trading racket and detained a gang member. Members of the force also rescued a man from the clutches of the accused as he was about to be trafficked to India through the Benapole border, the BGB said in a release. Read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive The accused has been identified as Anisur Rahman, 27, son of Fazlul Haque of Gazipur City Corporation area. The rescued man, Md Yunus Ali, 36, is the son of Idris Ali Mandal of Dhukuriabera village in Sirajganj district. BGB has also recovered the passport of a woman, Runa Begum, from the possession of the accused, the release said. Yunus told BGB that Anisur lured him with a job offer in India on an annual pay package of Tk 3,70,000, and that he was not aware of the ill intentions of the accused. Read:Arms, valuables, drugs worth Tk 120 crore seized from Benapole in 2020 Jessore 49 BGB Battalion Commander Lt. Col Selim Reza said both the accused and the victim trafficker have been handed over to the Benapole Port police. Mamun Khan, officer-in-charge of Benapole Port police station, said the kidney trafficker would be produced in a court on Friday.

The government of Bangladesh demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period towards preventing human trafficking, earning itself an upgrade to Tier 2 in a ranking of countries fighting trafficking, says a US report.   These efforts included convicting more traffickers, modestly increasing the number of victims identified, acceding to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, and at the close of the reporting period establishing seven anti-trafficking tribunals as stipulated in Bangladesh’s anti-trafficking law.   In addition, the government continued to allow humanitarian access to the Rohingya camps, according to US State Department report on Trafficking in Persons released on Thursday.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi said Monday Botswana will continue to build capacity to counter the growing threat of wildlife poaching and trafficking.