Kathmandu, February 17

Maiti Nepal, which played an active role rescuing men and women being trafficked to various Gulf countries via Manipur-Myanmar-Dubai route, is bringing home a total of 179 people rescued from Manipur, an Indian state bordering Myanmar.

All of them are expected to reach  Kakadvitta, Jhapa tomorrow evening. A total of 147 female and 32 male have started a 1,000 kilometre journey to Kathmandu from Manipur India today afternoon. The women were kept at various shelter homes in Manipur after being rescued from traffickers.

Earlier, seven girls from Delhi and Myanmar were brought home with the support of Maiti Nepal and the Embassy of Nepal in Myanmar.

The human trafficking racket was exposed after Maiti Nepal, with support from Delhi Commission for Women successfully rescued six women from Rajiv Nagar, Delhi, on January 30. Traffickers were preparing to send the women to work as domestic help. More rescue operations were conducted for several days in various towns of Manipur in the following days.

Officials at Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights told THT a few days ago that they had records of 308 Nepali women who had crossed the Indian border into Myanmar in the past one month.  The rescue operation and the statement of those who were rescued had revealed that Myanmar was emerging as a new and safe transit for trafficking Nepali women to Dubai. From Dubai the women are sent to various other Gulf countries. Maiti Nepal claimed that the trafficking agents earned up to $ 500 for each women after transporting them to Dubai.

Nine persons ,including a woman accused of running the trafficking racket, are in police custody in Manipur.