Bangladesh has made key progress in combating human trafficking by increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions against human traffickers in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2022 published recently.

This work is crucial to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

However, there is still much work to be done to identify and care for trafficking victims and eliminate the exploitation of labourers seeking to work overseas, according to the US Embassy in Dhaka.

Around the world, crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change have a disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable individuals in society, rendering them susceptible to exploitation.

The country report for Bangladesh includes 18 priority recommendations ranging from increasing prosecutions and expanding victim services to enhancing law enforcement training and collaborating across borders.

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This year, the US Embassy in Dhaka congratulated Mohammed Tariqul Islam, country director of the Bangladesh branch of the non-governmental organisation Justice and Care, for his selection as a "2022 TIP Report Hero."

The TIP Report classifies countries into three tiers based on their performance in combating human trafficking.

Tier 1 countries are those that have been assessed to completely comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum requirements for the abolition of trafficking.

Countries assessed as not fully meeting the minimum standards, but making significant efforts to meet them, are placed in Tier 2.

And countries assessed as not fully meeting the minimum standards and not making significant efforts to do so are ranked Tier 3.

Bangladesh moved from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in 2020. The country remained in Tier 2 in the 22nd annual report.