Domestic laws and policies of Bangladesh provide protection from trafficking in person through several pieces of domestic legislations. The laws do not discriminate regarding their applicability and are equally applicable to refugees and asylum seekers. The Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and the Prevention and Protection of Women and Children Repression Act 2000 are the main laws and policies that regulate trafficking in Bangladesh. A legislative safety net against human trafficking is also framed by the Children Act of 2013 and the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act of 2013.  the Penal Code of 1860, the Bangladesh Passport Order of 1973, the Passport (Offences) Act of 1952, and the Bangladesh Labour Act of 2006 are additional significant laws that make up the anti-trafficking legislative framework. These laws seek to give Bangladesh a thorough legal framework for preventing human trafficking, especially of women and children. Along with these the government has taken an action plan titled ‘National Plan of Action for Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking 2018-2022 (Updated to 2023-2025)’ to identify key roles and relevant actions to comprehensively address both internal and cross-border human trafficking. 

According to The Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012, human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of individuals through the use of force or threats of it, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or a position of vulnerability, or through the payment or receipt of benefits in order to obtain the consent of someone in a position of control over another individual for the purpose of exploitation.1 To supervise the law's enforcement and coordinate efforts to prevent human trafficking, the Act also creates a Anti-Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal2 and The Human Trafficking Prevention Fund.3 The Act penalizes the act of human trafficking4 along with instigating, conspiring or attempting to commit an offence.5 Along with protecting their rights and dignity of the victims, the Act also requires the establishment of protective homes and rehabilitation programs for victims of human trafficking.6 The act further focuses on social integration of the victims of human trafficking, who are not returned to their home after being rescued.7  

Another significant legislation that deals with trafficking in Bangladesh is The Prevention of Oppression Against Women and Children Act 2000. The protection and wellbeing of women and children, particularly those who have been trafficked, are the particular focus of this Statute. It makes it illegal to traffic women and children for forced labour, sexual exploitation, or other types of exploitation. Additionally, it mandates the appointment of special prosecutors to handle trafficking cases and calls for the creation of special courts to handle them.8 The trafficking of women and children for prostitution and other illicit activities is covered in Sections 59 and 610 of this Act. The Children Act, 2013 has prohibited exploitation of children in any form, be it forced labour, prostitution or immoral activities.11  Moreover, by setting up a Child Affairs Desk and placing Child Affairs Police Officers in each police station across the nation, the Rescue, Recovery, Repatriation and Integration (RRRI)12 Task Force has made steps to implement the Children Act of 2013.13 The Overseas Employment and Migrants Act of 2013 has a provision to not grant licence14 to any person who has been convicted of offences related to human trafficking.15
Furthermore, The Penal Code, 1860 penalizes import, export, removing, buying, selling, trafficking or dealing in slaves with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.16 Also, buying and selling minor for prostitution has been considered as offence under the penal code.17 The National Plan of Action (NPA) consists of five action areas that are NPA’s five main objectives: prevention of human trafficking; comprehensive protection of victims of human trafficking; prosecution of traffickers; cross-border legal support and partnership; and monitoring and evaluation. Different committees have been set up under different ministries and trainings have been provided to many stakeholders including Bangladesh Police, CID, RAB, Border Guard Bangladesh and other law enforcement agencies pursuant to NPA.  

While Article 18 of the Constitution requires the state to prevent and suppress human prostitution, Article 34 of the Constitution forbids forced and bonded labor. Furthermore, a variety of fundamental human rights are guaranteed by Articles 27 to 44, which explicitly outline the state's duty to stop human rights violations in all their manifestations, including human trafficking. Though all provisions of the Constitution do not apply to refugees and asylum seekers, the key provisions such as right to life and liberty, protection as to arrest and detention, are applicable for all including the refugees and asylum seekers. 

In 2024, the government recognized 1,210 victims of trafficking, including 205 victims of unidentified forms of trafficking, 795 victims of forced labour, and 210 victims of sex trafficking. Compared to the 240 victims who were allegedly identified during the preceding reporting period, this represented an increase and most likely comprised victims of other crimes. At least 10,135 victims of human trafficking have been identified by civil society and international organizations, including 1,784 victims of sex trafficking, 8,090 victims of labor trafficking, and 261 victims of unidentified trafficking types. Observers pointed out that the government's efforts to find victims of human trafficking among the sizable number of migrant workers returning to Bangladesh were still insufficient.18

Trafficking instances involving the exploitation of Rohingya refugees were not always adequately investigated or prosecuted by the government. The majority of Rohingya-related instances documented by law enforcement involved transportation via boat, which may have amounted to migrant smuggling without components of trafficking, despite ongoing claims of traffickers abusing the Rohingya in Bangladesh through forced labor and sex trafficking. The government failed to set up clear legal reporting procedures in refugee camps, despite the PSHTA's provision allowing non-citizens to report trafficking. This hindered Rohingya refugees' access to the criminal justice system and enhanced impunity for perpetrators. The public's mistrust of the police and security forces discouraged many victims, particularly victims of human trafficking, from seeking legal aid, even though police and international humanitarian actors kept several help desks in refugee camps to offer legal aid to women and children who had been victims of different crimes. In addition to corruption and exploitation, observers said that certain Bangladeshi officials enabled Rohingya trafficking, particularly by taking bribes from traffickers to enter camps. To secure legitimate Bangladeshi passports for Rohingya refugees and enable their continued travel, migrant smugglers occasionally bought off officials, which occasionally led to trafficking in the Rohingya refugee camps. 
In the Rohingya refugee camps, to mitigate and combat the trafficking of children, Anti-Trafficking Working Group has been established in 2019 that covers 33 camps, Transit Centre, and Bhasan Char. Of the three areas of activities of the Anti-Trafficking Working Group, 15 organizations are active in Prevention/Outreach & awareness-raising, while nine organizations work in Protection and Response and Capacity building, Resources and Support are dealt by five organizations.19 This group has been able to identify 316 victims of trafficking in 2024 and 418 victims in 2023 and most of these victims survived by escaping from the traffickers and some were released through the intervention of APBN and NGO/INGO. 

• 1

  Section 3, Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012

• 2

  Ibid, s. 21

• 3

  Ibid, s. 42

• 4

  Ibid, s. 6

• 5

  Ibid, s. 8 

• 6

  Ibid, s. 35 states, ’(1) With a view to facilitating physical and psychological treatment, rehabilitation and family reconciliation of the victims of trafficking, the Government shall. establish adequate numbers of protective home and rehabilitation centre throughout the country.  

  (2) After the commencement of this Act, every person or organizaton willing to establish any such protective home or rehabilitation centre shall not conduct any activities without obtaining the license or temporary permission from the Government by such manner and under such conditions as may be prescribed by rules: Provided that any protective home or rehabilitation centre already established, shall obtain such license or permit within 6 (SIX) months from the commencement of this Act.’ 

• 7

  Ibid, s. 36 states, ’(1) The victim of human trafficking shall. upon being rescued. if not returned to his own family. be sent to any government or non-government protective home or rehabilitation centre and all information relating thereto shall be sent at once to the Government or to the competent authority.  

  (2) Every victim of human trafficking residing in a protective home or rehabilitation centre shall be entitled to give consent to the concerned matter and to get medical treatment and legal and psychological counseling service including sustainable rehabilitation and social integration facilities.’ 

• 8

  Section 26, The Prevention of Oppression Against Women and Children Act 2000

• 9

  Section 5, Prevention and Protection of Women and Children Repression Act 2000 states 'i. Whoever fetches from abroad or dispatches or sends abroad for prostitution or, to engage a woman in illicit immoral act or sale or buy or, for the purpose of torturing her in rent or otherwise or, keeps a woman in his possession, custody or security for such purpose, he shall be punished with death or transportation for life or with rigorous imprisonment of either description which may extend to twenty years but not less than ten years and also with fine.  

  ii. If a woman is transferred through sale rent or otherwise to a prostitute or the caretaker of a brothel or the manager of it, the man transferring such, if not proved otherwise, shall be deemed to have sold or transferred the woman for the purpose of prostitution and shall also be punished under sub-section (і).  

  iii. If the caretaker of a brothel or any person engaged in the management of the brothel, keeps in his possession or custody of any woman through sale, rent or otherwise, he shall be deemed, if not proved otherwise, to have bought or rented or taken in possession or custody of that woman to use that woman as a prostitute and shall be punished under sub-section (і).’ 

• 10

  Ibid, s. 6 states, ’i. Whoever fetches from abroad or dispatches or smuggles abroad a child for any illegal or immoral purpose, or sells or purchases or keeps a child in his possession, custody or security for such purpose, he shall be punished with death or rigorous transportation for life and also with fine.  

  ii. If any person steals a newborn baby from a hospital, child or mother care home, nursing home etc. or from the custody of the guardian of the child, he shall be punished under sub-section (і).’ 

• 11

  Section 80, The Children Act, 2013

• 12

  RRRI is the mechanism to combat heinous crime like human trafficking, Bangladesh and Indian governments took initiatives to activate the joint mechanism for smooth Rescue, Recovery, Repatriation and Integration (RRRI) of the victims of human trafficking.

• 13

  Bangladesh Country Report, 2018, Combating Human Trafficking, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, pg. 7

• 14

  Section 2(17), Overseas Employment and Migrants Act of 2013 defines licence as (17) ’"licence" means a licence issued to a recruitment agent under the Section 9.’ 

• 15

  Ibid, s. 10

• 16

  Section 371, The Penal Code, 1860

• 17

  Ibid, s. 372 and 373

• 18

  2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Bangladesh, U.S. Department of State, available at: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/bangladesh/ 

• 19

  Anti-Trafficking Working Group, Rohingya Refugee Response, available at: https://rohingyaresponse.org/anti-trafficking/