The National Human Rights Commission made public a bizarre fact the other day about the increasing incidents of human trafficking in Nepal. According to a report it prepared, 13,000 people were trafficked during the last two years while another 16,000 faced attempts of being trafficked.
The total number of people trafficked and those who faced attempts was only 11,500 in 2011 whereas their number increased to 29,000 in 2012 and 2013, clearly suggesting that the incidents of human trafficking are increasing over the years. All those trafficked in 2011/12 were forced into prostitution.
However, in recent years, men and children are also being trafficked to be employed in circuses, forced labour and for removal of organs, mostly kidneys. About 500 children below 14 years of age were trafficked to India to be employed in circuses.
The report confirmed the presence of a network of criminal groups who traffic people to Kathmandu from the villages and from Kathmandu to India.
Moreover, in recent years, women trafficking has extended beyond India, thanks to the growing trend of going overseas as migrant workers among the Nepalese girls. Media reports suggest that many Nepalese girls who reached the Gulf and African countries in the hope of landing a good job have been forced to work as sex workers. Although the report is silent about the new destinations of the Nepalese girls trafficked for forced prostitution, it made mention of Korea where 1,000 Nepalese women were smuggled through marriage bureaus.
A large number of girls are even trafficked to Kathmandu from the villages under different pretexts and are employed in the massage centres and beauty parlours of Kathmandu. Interestingly, only 262 complaints against trafficking were lodged at the police stations when the number of victims was 29,000, suggesting that most parents and guardians hesitate to file a police case when their daughters and children go missing.
Indeed, woman trafficking has become a serious crime in Nepal over the years. Despite the presence of several NGOs and INGOs working in this sector, more and more women are being trafficked every year. Some NGOs like Maiti Nepal have been rescuing women and children who have been trafficked. The police administration too is working to curb this heinous crime. The powerful media including films have played a key role to generate awareness against women trafficking in the recent decades. Films like Chameli produced in 2000 and Kohinoor in 2014 tell the tales of poor Nepalese women trafficked to Indian brothels. Still the number of trafficking incidents are on the rise, due mainly to lack of awareness and job opportunities among the women in the villages and in the absence of strict laws to penalise the criminals involved in women trafficking.
Obviously, the increasing trend among women to go overseas as migrant workers has provided a new platform for the women traffickers to run their business smoothly. When the Government of Nepal prohibits women from flying to certain countries as migrant workers, the manpower agencies tend to take the Nepalese women to India promising them to send overseas. This practice has resulted in the trafficking of women for forced prostitution. If the government and the local police administration work to control this practice and bring all the culprits to book, the incidents of human trafficking could be controlled to some extent. The political parties and their leaders should also cooperate with the police and other organisations working to control human trafficking.
