IOM Dhaka has hosted a two-day training of trainers to develop the
capacity of government officials to work with victims of human
trafficking.

A group of 50 master trainers from the Bangladesh Police and the
Department of Social Services attended the programme, which was
taught by experts from IOM, the government, the Legal Education
Training Institute (LETI) and universities.

The master trainers will in turn provide training to 1,250
district level government officials and law enforcement agencies in
22 districts with a high incidence of human trafficking.

The programme, organized as part of IOM's Prevention and
Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking in Bangladesh (PPVHT-B)
project, is based on a generic training manual developed by IOM and
external experts through a consultative process.

It includes sessions on understanding trafficking and safe
migration, human rights, legal support, identification, rescue,
release, rehabilitation and integration, the effects of
trafficking, care and support, counselling and communication,
attitudes towards survivors of trafficking and the economic
empowerment of victims.

Women, children and men are trafficked from Bangladesh mostly
for forced labour and commercial sex work. There are also cases of
children trafficked for organ smuggling or trafficked to the Middle
East, where they are used as camel jockeys.

Bangladesh has laws to prohibit trafficking, prosecute
traffickers and protect survivors. But their implementation is
undermined by a lack of resources and qualified staff.

"We should step out of the box to help and care for the
survivors of human trafficking. Greater cooperation is needed
between the departments of Bangladesh Police and the Department of
Social Services to stop trafficking and illegal emigration from
Bangladesh," Deputy Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Abdus
Salam told trainees. 

"This training will improve the capacity of the government in
providing care and protection to survivors of trafficking, with
their best interest and their rights in mind," said IOM Regional
Representative for South Asia Rabab Fatima.

For more information please contact:

Asif Munier

E-mail: "mailto:amunier@iom.int">amunier@iom.int

or

Tanya Huq Shahryar

Tel. +880.2.988.9765

E-mail: "mailto:tshahriar@iom.int">tshahriar@iom.int