Nearly 10,000 people trafficked into northeast of India
Saturday, 20 September 2008
FE Report
Not less than 10,000 people, mostly children, are trafficked into the Northeast of India with a good number smuggled in from Bangladesh, Nepal and other South East Asian countries, according to an Indian newspaper report.
Most of those trafficked are then engaged as cheap labour in coal mines of Meghalaya, tea gardens in Assam and in prostitution, said the report quoting a survey of a non-government organisation (NGO).
"The region, besides being a transit point of human trafficking, has also emerged as a destination point. We have rescued a number of children hailing from Nepal and Bangladesh in Assam and Meghalaya who were trafficked and engaged to work as cheap labour," team leader of Impulse NGO Hasina Kharbhih said.
Two other boys, who were trafficked from Bangladesh and were working in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya were also rescued and were likely to be sent home soon.
While trafficked children are often booked under the Illegal Migration Act, Impulse feels the Juvenile Justice Act or the proposals of the SAARC Convention on Trafficking could be applied to repatriate the victims to their homes, the NGO says.
It is estimated that Nepalese children constitute 20 per cent (40,000) of the estimated 200,000 Nepalese prostitutes in India.
The average age of girls trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal into India has fallen over the past decade from 16-18 to 10-15 years.
With India sharing a 4,222 kilometre border with 28 districts of Bangladesh, most of it open with rivers criss-crossing it, traffickers take advantage of this to smuggle in their hapless human cargo.
Not less than 10,000 people, mostly children, are trafficked into the Northeast of India with a good number smuggled in from Bangladesh, Nepal and other South East Asian countries, according to an Indian newspaper report.
Most of those trafficked are then engaged as cheap labour in coal mines of Meghalaya, tea gardens in Assam and in prostitution, said the report quoting a survey of a non-government organisation (NGO).
"The region, besides being a transit point of human trafficking, has also emerged as a destination point. We have rescued a number of children hailing from Nepal and Bangladesh in Assam and Meghalaya who were trafficked and engaged to work as cheap labour," team leader of Impulse NGO Hasina Kharbhih said.
Two other boys, who were trafficked from Bangladesh and were working in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya were also rescued and were likely to be sent home soon.
While trafficked children are often booked under the Illegal Migration Act, Impulse feels the Juvenile Justice Act or the proposals of the SAARC Convention on Trafficking could be applied to repatriate the victims to their homes, the NGO says.
It is estimated that Nepalese children constitute 20 per cent (40,000) of the estimated 200,000 Nepalese prostitutes in India.
The average age of girls trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal into India has fallen over the past decade from 16-18 to 10-15 years.
With India sharing a 4,222 kilometre border with 28 districts of Bangladesh, most of it open with rivers criss-crossing it, traffickers take advantage of this to smuggle in their hapless human cargo.