Survivor support mechanisms, digital monitoring systems strengthened to combat trafficking networks, says Salahuddin
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed today said the government would maintain a zero-tolerance policy against international human trafficking and cyber scam networks that use digital platforms to lure jobseekers and force them into criminal activities.Protecting citizens from human trafficking and technology-driven crimes remains one of the government’s top priorities, he said while addressing a high-level national dialogue titled “Trapped Behind the Scam: Ending Human Trafficking for Forced Criminality”, organised to mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2026 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.Salahuddin said human trafficking has become increasingly sophisticated, with criminal networks using fake online recruitment platforms and social media to target young people and jobseekers.Victims are taken abroad with false promises of lucrative jobs and better lives, only to be confined in cyber scam centres, where they are subjected to torture and intimidation and forced to engage in criminal activities, he said.Traditional law enforcement measures alone are no longer sufficient to tackle the threat, the minister said, calling for coordinated action involving technology companies, financial institutions, the private sector and civil society.
He said the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Act, 2026 introduced tougher penalties for offences involving online scams, technology-driven deception and trafficking for forced criminality.
The law has been framed in line with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its related protocols, he added.The government is also updating the Human Trafficking Prevention and Suppression Rules, 2017, and finalising the National Action Plan 2026-2030, focusing on prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership.
Salahuddin said protecting the dignity of trafficking survivors and ensuring their rehabilitation are both moral and legal responsibilities of the government.He said the National Referral Mechanism is being strengthened to provide rescued victims with immediate legal, medical, psychological and rehabilitation support.
A digital anti-trafficking information management platform is also being developed to improve data-driven policymaking and case tracking, he added.
The minister urged the media and civil society to raise public awareness about safe migration and fraudulent recruitment, particularly among young people, women and prospective migrants.
The dialogue was chaired by Public Security Division Senior Secretary Manzur Morshed Chowdhury.Law and Justice Division Secretary Md Liakat Ali Mollah, Inspector General of Police Md Ali Hossain Fakir, European Union Chargé d’Affaires Baiba Zarina, and IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission and UN Migration Network Coordinator Dr Laura Tomm-Bonde attended the programme as special guests.
During a working session, panellists discussed trafficking for forced criminality, deceptive recruitment and online exploitation.
The panel comprised CID chief and Acting Additional Inspector General of Police Ali Akbar Khan, Italian State Police representative Giuseppe Di Giovanni, Brac Migration Programme and Youth Platform Associate Director Shariful Hasan, and Nahid Arman, a survivor rescued from an online scam centre in Cambodia.
The programme was jointly organised by the Home Ministry, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Counter-Trafficking Technical Working Group of the UN Migration Network.
