DHAKA (UCAN): The Bangladesh Rehabilitation and Assistance Center for Addicts [BARACA] a de-addiction centre has been honoured for its contribution to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
“We are very happy and proud because the government has recognised our work,” said Holy Cross Brother Nirmal Francis Gomes, director of BARACA. “This honour will inspire our staff and motivate us to do more quality work.”
Bangladesh’s home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, presented a crest to BARACA the and two other organisations in capital of Dhaka on June 26.
BARACA was initiated by Holy Cross Brother Ronald Drahozal in 1988 and is the first drug treatment and rehabilitation center in the country. It is now a central project for Caritas Bangladesh.
The centre provides services for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug-dependent persons, spreads awareness on drugs, harm and risk reduction, voluntary counselling and testing, running daycare and night shelters for street-based children at risk.
Over the years, BARACA has successfully treated more than 5,000 people and sheltered more than 1,500 street children at its four centres.
“BARACA changed my life,” Milon Mahmud, said, who was treated five years ago. He added, “It is a centre of love. I could quit my addiction to liquor and cannabis because of the love of the elder brothers here. They helped me understand the bad effect of drugs.”
Khan, the home minister, said there are 7.5 to 8 million drug addicts in Bangladesh, with 48 per cent of them educated. Most of the people in jail are drug traffickers or drug dealers. Eighty per cent of drug addicts are young while 57 percent are sex offenders.
“Although Bangladesh is not a drug-producing country, it is being used as a route for drug smuggling,” the minister noted.
