Bangladesh and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation to prevent human trafficking, enhance border management, and promote safe migration. The commitment was made during a meeting between Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and IOM Chief of Mission in Bangladesh Dr. Laura Tomm-Bonde at the minister's office in the Bangladesh Secretariat.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to further strengthen their two-decade partnership, with particular emphasis on intensifying national efforts to combat human trafficking, addressing technology-enabled trafficking networks, modernizing integrated border management, and ensuring safe and orderly migration.
The home minister welcomed Dr. Tomm-Bonde and assured her of his ministry's full support in preventing human trafficking, strengthening border security, enhancing technical capabilities of law enforcement agencies, and promoting safe migration. The meeting noted with satisfaction that the national validation of the jointly developed Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy is nearing completion.
IOM also reiterated its commitment to providing technical assistance to Bangladesh's Special Branch and other law enforcement agencies. The two sides reviewed IOM's continued support in policy development, specialized training, research, institutional capacity building, and mobilization of international resources to strengthen Bangladesh's anti-human trafficking framework.
Dr. Tomm-Bonde informed the minister that IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniel will visit Bangladesh from August 1 to 5 and invited him to attend a reception at the UN House in Dhaka on August 4. This meeting underscores the importance of international collaboration in addressing the complex issue of human trafficking and highlights Bangladesh's ongoing efforts to enhance its anti-trafficking measures.
