Saarc meet in Delhi this month to fight human trafficking
Diplomatic Correspondent
High officials from Saarc countries are expected to meet in New Delhi in the last week this month to work out a coordinated rescue and repatriation effort for the victims trafficked across the Saarc nations. Official sources said the meeting, most likely to be held between July 24 and 27, would be attended by representatives from home and foreign affairs ministries as well as officials from Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund). New Delhi claims that over 30,000 people are trafficked across India's porous borders every year -- mostly from Bangladesh and Nepal. Foreign ministry sources said the Saarc regional taskforce is expected to recognise human trafficking as a growing problem and establish a prevention mechanism in line with Saarc Convention of 2002 to combat especially women and children trafficking for prostitution. According to officials, trafficked young girls are usually forced into prostitution while many children are forced to work as camel jockeys or domestic help. They are even sold for organ transplants. An official at home ministry said Bangladesh government has already taken effective measures and law enforcement agencies are highly active to curb human trafficking. As a result of a number of steps, human trafficking from Bangladesh has been significantly reduced in recent years. "A lot of things are being done to tackle the problem. More needs to be done though," the official added. The issues with domestic workers and micro-finance schemes would also be discussed at the meet. An Indian high commission official told The Daily Star that Bangladesh, Nepal and India need to work together to put an end to women and children trafficking. "It is really important for all the three nations to work together as a sub-regional group to remedy the situation." He said human trafficking has been a major challenge for Indian authorities and the case is worse with Nepal. He said out of the thousands trafficked across the border, only a small number of them get caught. What follows after getting caught is a long and painstaking process of identifying and counselling of the victims so that they can be sent back to their home countries. "Most often, these women and children do not have any papers [documentation] to prove their nationality. And they have to wait in police stations [in custody] under inhumane conditions while two countries battle it out over the victim's place of origin," the official added.
| 
