According to the US State Department report, Bangladesh is a significant country of origin and transit for trafficked women and children, and has been included on the list of offending countries, because it has not made significant efforts to prosecute traffickers and has not addressed the complicity of government officials in the trafficking. Local NGOs, many of whom have been working tirelessly to stem the flow of human trafficking, have said as much for years, but to little avail.

The real problem, and what should be motivating our leaders, is not the threat of sanctions. It is the fact that women and children are trafficked from and through Bangladesh in the thousands every year. The government's job is to protect its citizens.

These trafficked women and children are being consigned to a life of untold misery, abuse, and degradation. It should shame us all that our fellow countrymen and women are subjected to this suffering.

Their distress should be reason enough for the government to take measures to stem the trade. We shouldn't need the US State Department to tell us this. There seems to be a pattern here that when NGOs or civil society or the media point to a problem, the government denies that there is anything wrong and refuses to act. Only when a foreign government makes the same claim and threatens remedial action, is the government jolted out of its apathy. This is far from ideal. But let us not let our dislike of being told what to do distract us from the real issue.

The real issue is the misery of the trafficked women and children, and there can be no argument that the government has neglected its duty to take steps to curb this terrible trade. The government can and must do more. Misery should not be an export item.