After it became mandatory for Nepali citizens to possess no-objection letter to travel to Gulf countries from India, human traffickers have shifted their transit location to Bangladesh, it has been revealed.

On Saturday, a Nepali woman was sent back to Nepal from Bangladesh after immigration officials there caught her trying to fly to Saudi Arabia without a visa.

The woman, a resident of Pyuthan district, said that an agent took her to Bangladesh via Phulbari in India and made her work in a house for two weeks before instructing her to leave for Saudi Arabia. She was arrested after immigration officials found that she did not even have a visa for entering Bangladesh.

Upon arriving here, she has been taken into shelter by Maiti Nepal, an organisation working for women victims of trafficking. As part of agreements made during Nepal-India Joint Border Management Meet in February, India has banned Nepali citizens to fly out of its airports, particularly to Gulf and African countries, without securing no-objection letter from the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi. According to Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, the policy is an effort to curb human trafficking and applies to those who attempt to dupe innocent Nepalis by promising them jobs in third countries.

With the tightening of regulations in India, traffickers have turned to alternate countries like Bangladesh where the provision is not yet in place. The Nepali Embassy in Bangladesh is in contact with hundreds of Nepali women in similar plight.

Maiti Nepal urged the government and stakeholders to take prompt action to prevent the scenario from getting uglier. “If steps are not taken in time, Bangladesh will develop into a transit point just like India,” Maiti Nepal President Anuradha Koirala said.

Published on: 6 April 2015 | The Kathmandu Post