Dhaka:  The unearthing of a mass grave at a human trafficking camp in southern Thailand as well as the rescue of a Bangladeshi survivor there will have a severe bearing on overseas jobseekers from Bangladesh, says Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.

Malaysian government has been very cautious about the alleged illegal human trafficking from Bangladesh and Myanmar through the risky sea route, using the forests of Thailand as an entry point to that country, and the Thailand incident may prompt them to shut their labour market for Bangladeshi workers, he said on Tuesday.

The Thai authorities have located the mass grave containing mortal remains of 32 people reportedly from Bangladesh and Myanmar in a remote jungle in Sadao district of Thailand near the border of Malaysia.

There were further reports that a man from Bangladesh has survived there, said a Foreign Ministry press release on 3 May.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand has already been in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand, and sought details of the incident, said the release.

Khandker Mosharraf said his ministry has already requested the Home Ministry to bring the issue at the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, which is going to be held very soon.

‘We’ll propose preparing a work plant at the meeting to prevent illegal trafficking. Hope, the other ministers will agree. We’ll discuss the issue to find a way to root out the problem,’ he said.

The minister noted that he will also propose enacting a law for having effecting control against illegal trafficking.

Asked why the overseas jobseekers are taking the illegal route to Malaysia when there is a government-to-government (G-G) process for sending labours to that country has been in effect, the minister said the G-G process might not be providing enough opportunities for all to migrate to Malaysia.

All those interested to migrate to Malaysia are not getting the chance under the G-G process as it involves registration, lottery and most importantly it takes a lot of time, he added.

Contacted, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan told UNB the Bangladesh Coast Guard and the Border Guard Bangladesh have recently intensified their vigilance against illegal trafficking though the sea route.

As the law enforcers and the border forces are on greater vigilance in recent past, the trend of illegal trafficking has decreased, he claimed.

Meanwhile, a high official of the Foreign Ministry, preferring not to be named, said the three ministries concerned—Home Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment—have to work together to prevent human trafficking.

If the human trafficking to Malaysia continues using the sea route, it may even lead to the closure of other labour markets in Middle East, the official added.