Human trafficking continues unabated
"Police at TIA have filed 43 human trafficking cases in the last eight months. Traffickers have been using visit visas to traffic girls to the Gulf and other countries"
Human trafficking in the country has been growing under the guise of foreign employment in recent months. Human traffickers have been using tourist visas — popularly known as visit visas — to send women migrant workers abroad.
Human traffickers have been using visit visas to send women abroad, said deputy inspector general Bigyan Raj Sharma in an orientation programme for police personnel deployed at Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA).
“The flow has been increasing at an alarming rate and strong action needs to be taken immediately,” he said. “All the concerned authorities must be alert against it.”
According to Sharma, Nepal Police at the Tribhuwan International Airport has been fighting against the evil and has achieved some success. “About 13 human traffickers are in jail for sending women using fake documents,” he said, adding that police at TIA have filed 43 human trafficking cases in the last eight months.
Trafficking women to Tanzania to be employed as dancers has increased in recent months. Traffickers have also been sending women to countries that have been banned like Iraq and Libya. Fraud under the guise of foreign employment has been growing by the day, he said. “Since November, my team has forwarded about 21 cases to the Department of Foreign Employment,” said Sharma.
The flow of visit visas has increased since the government imposed a ban on women migrant workers below 30 years from going abroad as domestic helps. However, the age bar has reduced the number of women migrant workers joining foreign jobs at a young age.
Today, there are more aged women joining foreign jobs than before, said programme manager at UN Women Saru Joshi Shrestha. Earlier, girls below 30 years used to go to foreign countries for jobs. Most of them were in the 18-24 age group, she said. Therefore, human traffickers have been using visit visas to traffic girls to the Gulf and other countries.
Last month, Sri Lankan immigration had arrested nine Nepali girls for overstaying their visa. The girls used to work as dancers in Sri Lankan bars and beach parties.
The same problem has emerged in African and Arabian countries also. Human trafficking from Nepal has expanded from Mumbai to Dubai, Doha and Tanzania.
Besides human trafficking, outsourcing agencies have been using fake foreign job permits to send women abroad.
The TIA police have filed about a dozen cases at the Department of Foreign Employment against outsourcing agencies for their involvement in fraudulent activities.
Non-governmental organisations working for migrant rights have urged the state authorities — police and immigration — working at Tribhuwan International Airport to reduce trafficking of workers.
Human traffickers are not only trafficking women but men too. Therefore, we have to look into the issue comprehensively, said president of Paurakhi — a non-governmental organisation working for women migrant workers — Manju Gurung.
European Union, UN Women and National Network for Safer Migration had organised the orientation to train police personnel on safer migration.
It is the first orientation for police personnel on migration. Such orientation programmes should be continued in the future to sensitise police personnel about safer migration, said DIG Sharma.
Published on: 14 June 2013 | The Himalayan Times
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