The Bangladeshi cabinet has given its final nod to a new anti-human trafficking law incorporating a provision for much harsher penalties to traffickers.

The approval came at the regular cabinet meeting with Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina in the chair on August 12.

A cabinet meeting source told Xinhua that the new law will help prevent human trafficking, which is also an international concern.

The official source said the Overseas Employment and Migration Act 2013 aims at protecting the interests of the outbound local laborers and stem deception by the recruiting agencies with the provisions of both jail term and fines.

If the parliament gives nod, it said, a trafficker can be awarded highest 10-years imprisonment with a fine of 500,000 taka (about 6,410 U.S. dollars) under the new law.

"It will ensure different punishments as per gravity of the offences that include highest 10 years term jail with monetary fines of 500,000 taka ," the source added.

Official sources said the Bangladeshi government has moved to make the existing Overseas Employment and Migration Act 1982 time befitting as part of its efforts to safeguard the interests of the migrated people.

They said that the Overseas Employment and Migration Act 2013 also help check fraudulent acts committed by the recruiting agencies, stop visa trading, issuance of recruiting licences, and give scope to the deprived laborers returned from abroad for filing cases against the fraud recruiting agencies for compensation.