Senior home secretary urges coordinated anti-trafficking law enforcement.
Senior Home Secretary Manzur Morshed Chowdhury has stressed coordinated field-level implementation of the Manob Pachar o Obhibashi Chorachalan Protirodh o Daman Ain, 2026 (Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Act, 2026).
“Effective enforcement requires close cooperation among law enforcement agencies, administration, immigration and investigation bodies,” he said.
The senior secretary was speaking as the chief guest at a divisional workshop on the effective implementation of the new law in Sylhet today.
“Migrant smuggling has been defined and included as a separate and distinct offence under the new law. Therefore, it is important to properly distinguish between human trafficking and migrant smuggling and take effective investigative and legal measures according to the nature of the offence,” he said.
He said migrant smuggling is an organised and transnational crime and that simply strengthening border surveillance would not be enough to combat it.
“The concerned agencies must work in coordination to identify visa and document fraud, brokers and intermediaries, and the wider criminal networks behind such offences, and bring them under the law,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of grassroots-level coordination, Manzur said information and intelligence sharing among law enforcement agencies, administration, immigration, investigation agencies and other relevant institutions must be strengthened to ensure prompt and coordinated action.
He also cautioned against treating everyone attempting to travel abroad through irregular routes as a criminal, noting that many could be victims of fraud, exploitation or human trafficking.
“Alongside taking action against offenders, we must attach importance to identifying, protecting and connecting potential victims with necessary assistance,” he said.
The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs with support from the British High Commission and Justice and Care, Bangladesh.
It discussed migrant smuggling, visa and document fraud, identification of criminal networks, victim protection and inter-agency coordination.
The workshop was chaired by Sylhet Divisional Commissioner Md Mashiur Rahman.
Deputy Inspector General of Sylhet Range Mohammad Jahangir Hossain, Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sarwar Murshed Shamim, Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Abdullah Al Mamun, among others, attended the programme.
