Children trafficked to India for labor on rise
MADAN THAKUR
Trafficking of children from the inner Tarai in Nepal to India for work as child laborers has gone unchecked over the last several months.Human right activists working against child trafficking said that the number of children being trafficked to various cities in India is considerably higher than those being rescued along the Nepal-India border.
As many as 250 Nepali children were rescued from the Indian border town of Raxual between mid-June, 2012 and the end of February. However, human rights activists speculate that Nepali children working in India number in the thousands.
Out of the total of 250 children rescued, 200 were from Rautahat district, 12 from Bara, 7 from Parsa, 8 from Sarlahi and 6 from Chitwan.
According to DSP Pitambar Adhikari in Parsa, hundreds of children from various Tarai districts are being trafficked to Mumbai every week for work as laborers.
Every Saturdary, the Indian Border Security Force (IBSF) and the Indian Railway Police Force (IRPF) have been rescuing 10 to 30 children being trafficked to India via Raxual railway station and returning them to Nepal in collaboration with various NGOs, informed Sandeep Singh Thakuri, chairman of Development Nepal, an NGO in Parsa working against human trafficking.
He further said eight children from Rautahat were rescued in Raxual by the IBSF and IRPF two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, rescuers working at various NGOs suspect that child traffickers have not been arrested so far as they are provided protection by the Indian security personnel. "Even though children are rescued in huge numbers at a time, Indian security personnel never arrest the traffickers," admitted a human right activist, seeking anonymity. He accused the Indians of not taking any action because of the bribes provided them by traffickers.
Thakuri said a majority of children are found being trafficked to India for labor with the consent of their parents.
Children trafficked to various cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are forced to weave cloth, stitch bags and perform various hazardous and odd jobs, said Sangita Puri, an official at Maiti Nepal.
Published on: 27 March 2013 | Republica
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