The Bangladesh Government though does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so.

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) 2016 that put Bangladesh in Tier 2, the government significantly increased trafficking investigations — with a notable increase in labor trafficking investigations from 12 cases in 2014 to 265 cases in 2015.

‘Prosecutions also increased, and the government finalized and launched its 2015-2017 national action plan and continued to fund nine multipurpose shelters, drop-in centres, and safe homes, which were accessible to victims of trafficking’, says the report.

‘However, for the third consecutive year, the government continued to prepare but did not finalise the implementing rules for the 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act (PSHTA), thereby impeding the identification, rescue, and rehabilitation of trafficking victims.’

‘Convictions decreased, and although complicity of some officials in trafficking offenses remained a serious problem, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses in 2015.’

‘The government finalised and launched the 2015-2017 national action plan in June 2015, providing for better coordination between the government and NGOs. The Ministry of Home Affairs published its annual report on human trafficking.’

‘The government trained military personnel to recognize and prevent trafficking in persons prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions and provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.’

‘The government did not demonstrate efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor. Bangladesh is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.’