10 Jul 2019

Dozens of trafficked Bangladeshis leave Vanuatu

1:13 pm on 10 July 2019

Dozens of Bangladeshi trafficking victims in Vanuatu have left the country, as the government works to strengthen immigration laws.

Bangladeshi human trafficking victims in Vanuatu

Bangladeshi human trafficking victims in Vanuatu Photo: Supplied

Of the 101 men who were under government care in Port Vila, just 25 remain after several groups were flown out in recent weeks.

A representative for the migrants, Shahin Khan, said a group of eight men left this morning.

The rest will stay as key witnesses in the Supreme Court case against their alleged traffickers.

Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister, Andrew Napuat, said the government needs to know more about people coming into the country.

"We want to encourage other countries in the Pacific if we could all come up with a common system that we could all share in order to protect our borders from people who are coming to the region."

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