Childtrafficking
Millions of children work as slaves in the stone-quarries of India. Khalidoss was lucky to escape
India is suffering a great evil, for India has been identified as a source, transit and destination point in the international circuit od childtrafficking; large numbers of children are also trafficked within the country. According to a study done in 2009, called: “Trafficking in India”, over 378 of the 593 districts in India are affected by human trafficking. Only 10% of human trafficking in India is international, while almost 90% is interstate. The porous borders with Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the major reasons for the prevalent high levels of children being trafficked every year.
Internal forced labor may constitute India's largest trafficking problem; men, women, and children are held in debt bondage and face forced labor in marble quarries, brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories; women and girls are trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage; children are forced to work as domestic servants, beggars, agriculture workers, and have been used as armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups; India is also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation; Indian women are also trafficked to the Middle East for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Internal forced labor may constitute India's largest trafficking problem; men, women, and children are held in debt bondage and face forced labor in marble quarries, brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories; women and girls are trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage; children are forced to work as domestic servants, beggars, agriculture workers, and have been used as armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups; India is also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation; Indian women are also trafficked to the Middle East for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
For a ninthconsecutive year India has failed to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking; despite the reported extent of the trafficking crisis in India, government authorities made uneven efforts to prosecute traffickers and protect trafficking victims; government authorities continued to rescue victims of commercial sexual exploitation and forced child labor and child armed combatants, and began to show progress in law enforcement against these forms of trafficking; a critical challenge overall is the lack of punishment for traffickers, effectively resulting in impunity for acts of human trafficking; India has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008).
A newsreport of childtrafficking
On the 29th of January 2010 Asian News International (ANI), the first independent online newspaper, published the following report written by HT Syndication. It shows there is a growing awareness and concern about child trafficking and slave labour in the Indian community and among its politicians. The report says:
Making their way under the cover of darkness, unscrupulous dealers whisk away thousands of children from Rajasthan in trucks to neighbouring Gujarat to make them work in the state’s booming cotton fields. An estimated 300.000 children, most of them below 14 years, work in India’s cotton fields in subhuman conditions, say officials of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Though Gujarat is where most of them are headed, the children - mostly from the tribal belt of Rajasthan - are also taken to other states in India.
India has the largest number of child labourers in the world today, with 12.7 million economically active children of 5-14 years, according to Census 2001. Unofficially, child rights activists put the figure at nearly 60 million. There are 420 million children in the age group of 0-18 years in the country. Sinha, who is the first chairperson of the commission, said they came to know about child trafficking, especially tribal children, when they held a public hearing on child labour last August in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district. “We found out that national and multinational companies paid a commission to local agents from the tribal communities of Rajasthan to recruit children to work as cheap labour in Gujarat,” she said.
Sinha said they heard horror stories about how children were trafficked from their villages, vulnerable to health hazards and abuse. “They are subjected to violence and toil for hours in the heat and dust. They also complain of headaches, giddiness and depression,” she added. “There is an increase of child labour in India, mainly in the informal sector and in agricultural activities.” Following that meeting, the commission planned to crack down on this practice and is establishing a vigilance committee with officials and non-officials to prevent trafficking of children. “But we need the help of NGO’s to give housing facilities for the rescued children and provide them education”, she said (this is where we come into the picture).
Sociologist Neera Burra, who recently submitted a detailed report to the commission on the issue, said the Child Labour Act of 1986, does not prohibit all forms of child labour, making it possible for many more children to be drawn into labour. “The parents of these children are given some money and promised that their children will live a better life - which is never the case. These dealers escape being detected, by packing the children in trucks and take them away under the cover of darkness,” This trend has been seen for the past few years, and most of the children come from the tribal belt of Rajasthan”, she explained.
Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, Madhu Goud Yaskhi said: “I have no reason to doubt that 300.000 children are working in cotton fields. “I know that the practice is followed in Gujarat and other states. I know it is a huge number. And we politicians are as guilty for not taking up this issue seriously. We need to do something about child labour,” said the Lok Sabha MP, who was present at a meeting of the commission.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the states from where the maximum numbers of people are trafficked to other states. Intra state/inter district trafficking is high in the states of Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. States like Delhi and Goa are ‘receiver’ states. Trafficking of women and children from the North-Eastern states of India and the bordering countries in the north-east is a serious issue but has so far not drawn public attention. There was no evidence of trafficking in Jammu & Kashmir. Intra country trafficking has not been documented to the extent that cross border trafficking has been.
Reasons for trafficking
Children are trafficked for several reasons including sexual exploitation; entertainment & sports (for example, acrobatics in circus, dance troupes, beer bars; as camel jockeys); marriage; labour; begging, organ trade (though only anecdotal evidence of this is available); drug peddling and smuggling. Trafficking of children usually happens through well-organized networks. Family, relatives, friends, community leaders, brokers, the pimps and owners of brothels, the police, political connections and the criminal nexus: all or any of these have been found to be involved in the process of child trafficking.
Legal protection
Though there is an ‘Immoral Traffic Prevention Act’ that exists in India, it only refers to trafficking for prostitution and so does not provide comprehensive protection for children. Nor does the Act provide a clear definition of ‘trafficking’. There is a UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (the Palermo Protocol) that will, when implemented, give a comprehensive definition of trafficking, but this has still not been ratified by India.
Recommendations for change
The UN Convention against transnational organised crime (the Palermo Protocol) should be ratified to clearly define trafficking and to cover all its forms. Effective law enforcement agencies should be set up to work against traffickers and exploiters with appropriate restoration mechanisms and victim assistance programmes. There should be effective monitoring of trafficking. There should be more coordination between the ministries of tourism, labour and surface transport to combat domestic and cross border trafficking.
A newsreport of childtrafficking
On the 29th of January 2010 Asian News International (ANI), the first independent online newspaper, published the following report written by HT Syndication. It shows there is a growing awareness and concern about child trafficking and slave labour in the Indian community and among its politicians. The report says:
Making their way under the cover of darkness, unscrupulous dealers whisk away thousands of children from Rajasthan in trucks to neighbouring Gujarat to make them work in the state’s booming cotton fields. An estimated 300.000 children, most of them below 14 years, work in India’s cotton fields in subhuman conditions, say officials of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Though Gujarat is where most of them are headed, the children - mostly from the tribal belt of Rajasthan - are also taken to other states in India.
India has the largest number of child labourers in the world today, with 12.7 million economically active children of 5-14 years, according to Census 2001. Unofficially, child rights activists put the figure at nearly 60 million. There are 420 million children in the age group of 0-18 years in the country. Sinha, who is the first chairperson of the commission, said they came to know about child trafficking, especially tribal children, when they held a public hearing on child labour last August in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district. “We found out that national and multinational companies paid a commission to local agents from the tribal communities of Rajasthan to recruit children to work as cheap labour in Gujarat,” she said.
Sinha said they heard horror stories about how children were trafficked from their villages, vulnerable to health hazards and abuse. “They are subjected to violence and toil for hours in the heat and dust. They also complain of headaches, giddiness and depression,” she added. “There is an increase of child labour in India, mainly in the informal sector and in agricultural activities.” Following that meeting, the commission planned to crack down on this practice and is establishing a vigilance committee with officials and non-officials to prevent trafficking of children. “But we need the help of NGO’s to give housing facilities for the rescued children and provide them education”, she said (this is where we come into the picture).
Sociologist Neera Burra, who recently submitted a detailed report to the commission on the issue, said the Child Labour Act of 1986, does not prohibit all forms of child labour, making it possible for many more children to be drawn into labour. “The parents of these children are given some money and promised that their children will live a better life - which is never the case. These dealers escape being detected, by packing the children in trucks and take them away under the cover of darkness,” This trend has been seen for the past few years, and most of the children come from the tribal belt of Rajasthan”, she explained.
Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, Madhu Goud Yaskhi said: “I have no reason to doubt that 300.000 children are working in cotton fields. “I know that the practice is followed in Gujarat and other states. I know it is a huge number. And we politicians are as guilty for not taking up this issue seriously. We need to do something about child labour,” said the Lok Sabha MP, who was present at a meeting of the commission.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the states from where the maximum numbers of people are trafficked to other states. Intra state/inter district trafficking is high in the states of Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. States like Delhi and Goa are ‘receiver’ states. Trafficking of women and children from the North-Eastern states of India and the bordering countries in the north-east is a serious issue but has so far not drawn public attention. There was no evidence of trafficking in Jammu & Kashmir. Intra country trafficking has not been documented to the extent that cross border trafficking has been.
Reasons for trafficking
Children are trafficked for several reasons including sexual exploitation; entertainment & sports (for example, acrobatics in circus, dance troupes, beer bars; as camel jockeys); marriage; labour; begging, organ trade (though only anecdotal evidence of this is available); drug peddling and smuggling. Trafficking of children usually happens through well-organized networks. Family, relatives, friends, community leaders, brokers, the pimps and owners of brothels, the police, political connections and the criminal nexus: all or any of these have been found to be involved in the process of child trafficking.
Legal protection
Though there is an ‘Immoral Traffic Prevention Act’ that exists in India, it only refers to trafficking for prostitution and so does not provide comprehensive protection for children. Nor does the Act provide a clear definition of ‘trafficking’. There is a UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (the Palermo Protocol) that will, when implemented, give a comprehensive definition of trafficking, but this has still not been ratified by India.
Recommendations for change
The UN Convention against transnational organised crime (the Palermo Protocol) should be ratified to clearly define trafficking and to cover all its forms. Effective law enforcement agencies should be set up to work against traffickers and exploiters with appropriate restoration mechanisms and victim assistance programmes. There should be effective monitoring of trafficking. There should be more coordination between the ministries of tourism, labour and surface transport to combat domestic and cross border trafficking.
Trafficking and child domestic workers
Homes in urban areas employ ‘live in’ domestic workers, the majority of whom come from West Bengal Bihar, Jharkand; or Orissa. ‘Agents’ provide the links between employers and employees and it is reported that many of these girls are trafficked/bonded in connivance with their parents. The Government of Delhi in 2009 estimated that in Delhi alone there were 700,000 girls working in homes. Children are reportedly trafficked into Rajasthan from West Bengal and Bihar as child labour; and to Surat from Rajasthan to work in the diamond cutting industry. In Orissa, trafficking for labour is concentrated in the coastal areas.
Trafficking and childmarriage
ue to a demographic imbalance in Haryana (850 girls/1000 boys), men find it difficult to find a bride. The easy way out has been through a network of touts who help men, young old and widowed men to find wives from West Bengal, Assam and Bihar. An estimated 5000 girls were sold in the Mewat region of Haryana (Tribune 8 April 2008).
Homes in urban areas employ ‘live in’ domestic workers, the majority of whom come from West Bengal Bihar, Jharkand; or Orissa. ‘Agents’ provide the links between employers and employees and it is reported that many of these girls are trafficked/bonded in connivance with their parents. The Government of Delhi in 2009 estimated that in Delhi alone there were 700,000 girls working in homes. Children are reportedly trafficked into Rajasthan from West Bengal and Bihar as child labour; and to Surat from Rajasthan to work in the diamond cutting industry. In Orissa, trafficking for labour is concentrated in the coastal areas.
Trafficking and childmarriage
ue to a demographic imbalance in Haryana (850 girls/1000 boys), men find it difficult to find a bride. The easy way out has been through a network of touts who help men, young old and widowed men to find wives from West Bengal, Assam and Bihar. An estimated 5000 girls were sold in the Mewat region of Haryana (Tribune 8 April 2008).
Causes for trafficking
Poverty, often cited as a major reason responsible for trafficking in children, is not the only cause. Loss of traditional sources of livelihood, growing unemployment, forced migration, the commodification of children and growing consumerism resulting from globalisation have all contributed to the increase in child trafficking. The socio-economic situation and geographical location of the family add to the vulnerability. While both boys and girls are victims of trafficking, girls are more vulnerable, especially to trafficking for sexual purposes.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that through the outlawed religious practices like the ‘Devadasi’ and ‘Jogin’ systems, temple priests have used their position to traffic girls for prostitution. Traffickers sell girls to the Bedia and Bacchara communities who live in Madhya Pradesh and the border districts of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and to the Rajnats of Rajasthan, families where prostitution is traditional means of earning a livelihood. A myth that makes young girls vulnerable is the widespread belief that sex with a virgin girl will cure men of sexual transmitted diseases and HIV/Aids
Our project
The above mentioned problems bring us closer to the heart of our project since we want to bring relief and hope to the most hopeless children that are enforced in slave labor, prostitution and a life of poverty, begging for food. As for now we have already over threehundred children under our care of whom most were delivered and set free from slave labor. Our dream is to release at least a tenthousand of these children and provide them with a save and peaceful home, proper food, education, love and care and the perspective of a bright future.
Poverty, often cited as a major reason responsible for trafficking in children, is not the only cause. Loss of traditional sources of livelihood, growing unemployment, forced migration, the commodification of children and growing consumerism resulting from globalisation have all contributed to the increase in child trafficking. The socio-economic situation and geographical location of the family add to the vulnerability. While both boys and girls are victims of trafficking, girls are more vulnerable, especially to trafficking for sexual purposes.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that through the outlawed religious practices like the ‘Devadasi’ and ‘Jogin’ systems, temple priests have used their position to traffic girls for prostitution. Traffickers sell girls to the Bedia and Bacchara communities who live in Madhya Pradesh and the border districts of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and to the Rajnats of Rajasthan, families where prostitution is traditional means of earning a livelihood. A myth that makes young girls vulnerable is the widespread belief that sex with a virgin girl will cure men of sexual transmitted diseases and HIV/Aids
Our project
The above mentioned problems bring us closer to the heart of our project since we want to bring relief and hope to the most hopeless children that are enforced in slave labor, prostitution and a life of poverty, begging for food. As for now we have already over threehundred children under our care of whom most were delivered and set free from slave labor. Our dream is to release at least a tenthousand of these children and provide them with a save and peaceful home, proper food, education, love and care and the perspective of a bright future.