Bangladeshi Men Duped by Human Traffickers, Find Themselves in Vanuatu

A little over a hundred Bangladeshi men have been duped by human traffickers on the promise of jobs and a bright future. Now stranded on Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific, these men are lamenting their fate.

One of the Bangladeshi's, Shahin Khan said they are in a very horrible situation. Khan said they have been in government protection ever since they were rescued in November from the trafficking scheme. The scheme which dates back to 2017, lured dozens of vulnerable and desperate men in Bangladesh with promises of construction work in Vanuatu paying up to US$5,000 per month plus expenses; this is about 50 times the national average in Bangladesh. Khan said the men paid between US$14,000 and US$25,000 to get there, often scrounging and mortgaging their homes to raise the funds.

However, in Vanuatu, they were kept in crowded small properties and forced to work long hours, before locked up at night under guard. Four people in Vanuatu have been arrested and charged in connection with human trafficking are now before the Supreme Court. Josaia Naigulevu, Vanuatu's Public Prosecutor said this could be the Pacific's 'biggest case of human trafficking'.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi men are not too hopeful. They dread returning home as they face crippling debts and prefer to find work locally. Khan said many migrants feared being killed by loan sharks. "If we go back now, what will we do? We have nothing to do except commit suicide."

The Vanuatu government is facing pressure to take action over the men, who have been under its care for over four months now. Ishmael Kalsakau, the Opposition MP said the government needed to repatriate the group and strengthen Vanuatu's immigration laws to prevent further incidents. As humanitarian support, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has helped install a water tank and basic hygiene supplies. The International Organization for Migration has also provided humanitarian assistance.