A resident of Charfashion's Uttar Mangal village in Bhola district, Broker Faruque Hossain confessed about his human trafficking crimes to the law enforcers in front of The Daily Star.

Faruque is the leader of an international human trafficking ring, and at least 52 families in Charfashion have fallen prey to the broker.

He had promised them jobs in Singapore, Canada and Sweden to rob them off everything. Each victim paid Faruque, between Tk 5 lakh and Tk 8 lakh in phases since 2012.

Police arrested Faruque after Jahangir Farazi, father of trafficking victim Akhter, filed a case on May 18. Faruque showed up at his Uttar Mangal home the day before, after going off the grid for about three years.

Southeast Asia has been beset for years by growing waves of desperate migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. In the last several weeks alone, thousands have been rescued by fishermen or have made their way ashore in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.