Trafficking of Nepali boys, girls rampant by crime syndicates

The long porous nature of the land border between India and Nepal and the almost complete absence of immigration procedures make Nepali girls and boys more vulnerable to getting trafficked into India, a report by an NGO points out.

A six month appraisal on child trafficking by Caritas India, an NGO of catholic bishops, has highlighted key trends across the Indo-Nepal border with a view to evolve directions for future interventions.

The findings come almost a month after a couple, along with six of their associates, was arrested by Delhi Police for their involvement in human trafficking.

They had been running several brothels in Delhi’s GB Road and the syndicate that they were running is suspected to have trafficked more than 5,000 girls from Nepal and different states of India.

"In majority of cases, local ‘uncles’ (someone from the same village or neighbourhood) take the child away from their home and drop them at exploitative destinations," the report said.

As per the findings, trafficking of boys from Nepal to India across the land border at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and other places is at present rampant and growing over the past few years.

Both Nepalese girls as well as boys get trafficked across the Indo-Nepal land border from Nepal to India. The age of 13 years is the watershed year that conclusively precipitates trafficking.

Boys are mostly trafficked for labour sector exploitation. Serious lack of local wage opportunities is the strongest predisposing factor that functions as the push factor. However, the presence of centrally organized criminal syndicate is not observed or confirmed, the findings said.

The study also highlights callousness on the part of service providers. For instance, at the state as well as at the civil society sector, the system of proper data management and case management is absent.

 Several skill sets such as psycho social counselling is also missing at the level of personnel operating on ground.

The report in its recommendations have urged government and civil societies to put more emphasis on protecting potential victims from exploiters by means of education, intensify vigilance at transit points, increased engagement with the children and adolescents between the age of 13 and 18 in human resource development, ensure compulsory education upto the age of 13 years, strengthen victim assistance services and Juvenile Justice system, revive pre-existing child protection institutions, and encourage safe migration and tracking via biometric record.

There is also the need to seal of the Indo-Nepal border and introduction of strict verification procedures through official gates and closer scrutiny.

Although the exact number of people exploited in 2016 is not known, an earlier report by the Ministry for Home Affairs shows that the number of cases of human trafficking reported in 2015 alone was 46 when compared to 8 in 2012. The unofficial figures is expected to be much higher.