CTC meeting at Hazratpur
Speakers at a program called for ensuring safe migration of the expatriates to avoid human trafficking in economic interest.
“If the safe migration of migrants is not ensured, it would be a great setback to our economy”, they said while addressing an opinion exchange meeting titled “Counter-Trafficking Committee (CTC) Orientation” at No 1 Hazratpur union parishad bhaban in Keraniganj Model thana of the capital, says a press release issued on Wednesday.
INCIDIN Bangladesh, a rights-based organization, and TdH Netherlands, a Netherlands-based development organization, jointly organized the event on Tuesday afternoon.
Md Anwar Hossain Aynal, Chairman of Hazratpur Union Parishad attended event as the chief guest, while AKM Masud Ali, Executive Director of INCIDIN, chaired it.
Sophia Meulenberg, Political Officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka, Andrew Grimmer, Foreign Affairs Officer of State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons attended the event and shared their views with the new CTC at the meeting.
Both Sophia and Andrew hoped that CTC will perform their due role in combating trafficking.
According to the speaker’s observation, vulnerable migrants are often the target of traffickers and find themselves in situations that can result in debt bondage, forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced and illegal marriages, losing lives and other forms of modern slavery.
All concerned particularly those at the grassroots level need to focus their efforts aimed at preventing exploitation of individuals by trafficking networks, they added.
Terming human trafficking as a serious human rights violation, the speakers said that all concerned must join their hands as the fight against trafficking and smuggling of migrants requires multi-stakeholder engagement.
As part of an anti-trafficking program supported by U.S. Department of State, under the guidance of National Plan of Action to combat human trafficking in Bangladesh, Hazratpur Union Parishad recently formed a 35-member CTC comprising people from different professions, including public representatives.
Among others-Mahmudul Kabir, Bangladesh Country Director of Tdh Netherlands, Md. Ishtiak Ahmed, a lawyer, Rabindranath Das, Principal of Hazratpur High School spoke at the event.