[Video transcript]
This family on the outskirts of Dhaka is living through a nightmare. Aminul — son, husband and father — paid around 8,000 US dollars to a Bangladeshi travel broker to help him find work abroad. After he left the country, his wife Jhuma received the shocking news that he was fighting with the Russian military in Ukraine. Then, she lost contact with him for several weeks.
Jhuma Akram Akter, wife of alleged trafficking victim: "If I or my husband knew that he would be sent to the war, we would never have paid to have him sent off to die. Do you think we wanted to pay for him to die? He went to them hoping to get a job. The brokers lied to us and sold my husband to the Russian army."
At least seven Bangladeshi men or their families have alleged that this agency in Dhaka promised them work abroad but then trafficked them into the Russian military. One of the men has been reported killed in the war.
Arman Mondol is another one of the agency's clients. He says the brokers promised him work as a cleaner in Russia. But once he arrived there, he claims, Russian officials coerced him into the military.
Arman Mondol, alleged trafficking victim: "They told us to sign a paper written in Russian. We didn't understand it. It was actually a document to join the Russian army and we signed it without understanding it."
Arman says he was sent to a two-week training camp and then deployed to Ukraine. There, he was injured in both legs by a landmine. He spoke to DW from his hospital bed in Russia, and told us he's looking for a way back to Bangladesh.
Arman Mondol, alleged trafficking victim: "We are going through a difficult time in Russia. I hope I can go back to my country. I want to see my family. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to survive."
Outraged by the situation, several of the men's families filed charges with the police against the owners of the Dhaka agency, Fabiha T. and Abul H.
Fabiha was arrested at the Dhaka airport and charged with human trafficking. The case is being tried at this court in the capital, where plaintiffs' families gathered looking for information about their missing loved-ones.
Fabiha and her lawyers declined to speak to DW. The Dhaka agency at the center of the allegations has been closed by the police.
But we reached co-owner Abul by video link from a location outside of Bangladesh that he did not disclose to us. He claims that he didn't intend for his clients to end up as soldiers.
Abul H., accused travel broker: "We sent them with visas to work as cleaners, and for a salary of about 1,000 US dollars per month. But they signed a second agreement (in Russia) with a lucrative offer of over 16,000 US dollars monthly salary. They did not inform me, nor the brother of my partner who went there with them. We learned all this after they were totally entrapped."
Abul says he is not hiding from police, and intends to cooperate with the investigation.
Abul H., accused travel broker: "If I committed any offence, I will surrender myself to the law. I'm prepared to face trial according to Bangladeshi law."
The Bangladeshi government says it is negotiating with Russia to bring home the men presumed to still be there. A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said this was a clear case of coercion.
Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh Advisor for Foreign Affairs: "Those who are going to the Ukraine war are not doing it willingly. We can say that they are pressured into it by travel brokers. Either they are offered something lucrative, or, once they are abroad they're lured into it with offers of money. It's an illegal scheme and they, as well, travel there illegally. We are trying to crack down on it, but it's a difficult task, because even with the help of the UN, we're failing in our attempts to combat illegal migration."
This case of alleged trafficking is not the only one of its kind in Bangladesh. Police say they suspect 67 people of luring Bangladeshis into other countries including Russia with lucrative offers. The scale of their operations is not known.
Mustafizur Rahman, Assistant Police Superintendent, Bangladesh National Police: "We are trying to weed out the entire human trafficking gang operating this new route to Russia. Some of the operations are here in Bangladesh. But this route, this human trafficking route, is new. That's why we're taking it seriously and we are trying to stop this thing."
After weeks of uncertainty, Jhuma finally received a message from her husband letting her know that he is still alive.
But they both know his journey back home will be difficult. It's still unclear if Russia will allow him to leave, and, if so, how long it will be before she and their children see him again.