Asks home ministry to take action, cancel their passports
DEEPAK ACHARJEE, Dhaka: The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has identified 28 people involved in illegal ‘visa business’ and in human trafficking in different countries, particularly in Brunei, and called upon the Ministry of Home Affairs to take stern action against them immediately.
In a recent letter, the expats’ welfare ministry also urged the home ministry to cancel the passports of the 28 traffickers at the earliest, ministry sources said.
The traffickers include Md Abdur Rahim (passport No. BR0191506), Shahed Ahmed Majumder Munna (BN 0490213), Abdullah Al Mamun (EB 0529051), Ismail Sarder (BM 0193277), Md Elias Majhi (BR 0333254), Shahin (BN 0719645), Sabuj Mirza Yunus (BC 305402), Jaj Miah (BC0497252), Md Monir Hossain (BT 0633222), Sohrab Khan (BJ 0737818), Saiful Islam (BT 0672122), Delwar (EB 0231119 ) and Kamrul Hassan (BP 0121477).
During the past two years, the 28 traffickers sent at least 26,000 Bangladeshis to Brunei without the clearance of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and without attestation of the high commission concerned, the sources added.
According to the letter, the racket trafficked the Bangladeshis to Brunei through work visas, and some of the ill-fated fortune-seekers were sent to deep forests before being trafficked to other countries.
The expats welfare ministry in the letter also warned that if such criminal activities cannot be contained soon, Bangladesh may lose its potential job market in the oil-reach Muslim country.
Informed about the matter during an October 19, 2019 visit to the immigration and labour department of the Southeast Asian country, Sultan of Brunei ordered the authorities concerned to go for a drive to bring the wrongdoers book.
In a drive following the Sultan’s order, 20 illegal Bangladeshis were arrested and sent back to Bangladesh, says the letter.
A group of Bangladeshi people in collaboration with their cohorts in Brunei – local and foreign nationals – have opened many fake companies only to do visa business, sources said, adding those companies only exist only papers and have no actual demand for workers.
A senior official of Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei Darussalam told The Independent on Friday that every day they receive many complaints from Bangladeshi fortune-seekers there.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said they have already asked the home ministry to take stern action against those involved in human trafficking in the name of manpower business.
“We have sent some lists of human traffickers, one of which contains names of the 28-member gang, to the home ministry, and asked it to cancel their passports and take other actions immediately,” he said.
Talking to this correspondent on Friday, the minister also said they are going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brunei to send workers to the friendly country.
There are about 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis in the oil-rich country.
