In search of better life abroad, many Bangladeshi youths routinely take perilous journey to go to different wealthy countries, but their desperate attempts often turn abortive and even cost them their lives.
Exploiting the innocence of these youths, a trafficking gang has long been engaged in taking them to different countries in return for huge amount of money only to put them in danger.
The bordering areas of Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar district is a hotspot for human trafficking and many are falling prey to this racket, according to sources at law enforcement agencies.
Many people embark on engine trawlers on maritime route towards different destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, often meeting with their tragic end.
Law enforcement agencies have identified over 500 brokers who are engaged in transporting these innocent people to Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia through the Cox’s Bazar coastline.
The brokers are active in 18 districts across the country. They allure people, particularly youths by offering overseas jobs at affordable expenses, according to officials of law enforcement officials.
Intelligence sources said 14 to 15 broker networks are active in Cox’s Bazar, each comprising 20 to 25 members. Initially, these networks charge Tk 20,000 – Tk 30,000 per person wishing to travel to Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore. They use some of the money collected from them to procure a trawler. Later, they demand an additional Tk 40,000 to Tk 60,000 from a person intending to go abroad. They provision the trawler with dry food before making journey on the sea route.
According to sources, the bordering Teknaf upazila is the transit point of human trafficking, but the traffickers’ circle extends to Maheshkhali. There are more than 25 human traffickers in Sonar Para and nearby areas of Ukhiya and 60 in Teknaf. Besides, there are more than 10 separate gangs of human traffickers.
The authorities concerned said that human trafficking syndicates are primarily target Rohingya communities. Residents assert that Rohingyas mainly funnel money from drug transactions to brokers.
According to intelligence agencies, at least 50 individuals, led by Md Rafiq, son of Md Sayed, and Md Harun, son of Badsha Mia, are working near camp number 16 as brokers for human trafficking. Members of this circle are trafficking people mostly to Malaysia through Shah Pori Deep and Baharchhara of Teknaf Upazila.
Dhalu Hossain and Sharif Hossain lead the broker circle in Shah Pori Deep. At least 12 cases are pending against them in Teknaf Police Station.
Some of the human traffickers active in Teknaf’s Sabrang are Kamal Akhtar, Sayed Kamal, Moazzem Hossain, Mohammad Hossain of Ramu Kalimarchhara, Jayet Ullah of Shahpori Deep Majher Para, Sabbir Ahmed, Sajeda Begum, Abdullah, Yunus, Kalim Ullah, Abdul Shukkur, Shamsul Alam of Gholapara, Kabir Ahmed, and Mujibur Rahman of Hajipara, totalling at least 250 individuals.
Besides, police have identified around 200 people working as brokers outside Teknaf.
Md Osman Goni, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Teknaf police station, told the Bangladesh Post, “In the last six months, eight cases were filed against 64 human traffickers. We have arrested 23 human traffickers and rescued 48 victims.”
“We are working round the clock to check human trafficking through the Cox’s Bazar coastline.
On November 24, 2023, law enforcers rescued 57 Rohingyas who had sailed for Malaysia by sea and detained four members of a human trafficking ring, including its leader, from Marine Drive in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
Md Osman Goni, Teknaf police station Officer-in-Charge (OC), said
The victims were trafficked to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia through different international syndicates, Teknaf police station OC said.
The rescued Rohingyas are the residents of different refugee camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf. They were being lured to Malaysia with a promise give lucrative jobs, the OC added.
Md Syed, one of those rescued, told this correspondent that he had departed from his camp with his three children for Malaysia five days ago. ‘I paid the broker Tk 40,000 upfront and was to provide Tk 2 lakh more upon arrival at their destination.”
The rescued Rohingyas spent five days in the hills before the traffickers relocated them to Marine Drive to commence their journey.
The Rapid Action Battalion rescued 54 Rohingyas, including women and children, from the Teknaf coast in Cox’s Bazar while they were being trafficked to Malaysia on March 25, 2022. They also detained three people, including two suspected traffickers, at Shamlapur of Baharchhara.
Police detained 135 Rohingyas, including women and children, who fled from various refugee camps of Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar, from Sonadia Island of Maheshkhali on March 21, 2022. The traffickers promised to take them to Malaysia by trawler on sea route, but they left the victims at Sonadia and fled.
Some of the arrestees said that they boarded the trawler around a week ago after the trafficking gang promised to take them to Malaysia.
Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued some 39 people, including Rohingya refugees, after a trawler carrying them capsized in the Bay of Bengal while they were illegally trying to leave for Malaysia on October 4, 2022.
Cox’s Bazar Police Superintendent Md Mahfuzul Islam said, “Human trafficking has decreased due to the activities of law enforcement agencies. The police are also investigating and conducting operations against those involved in human trafficking.”
