Human trafficking on rise after earthquakes

Kathmandu, September 9

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes last year, Nepal has witnessed a sharp increase in human trafficking.

According to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, 17,000 to 18,000 persons are trafficked from Nepal to different countries every year. In the fiscal 2015/16, a total of 1,697 persons was trafficked for the purpose of hard labour and prostitution.

At an interaction on ‘Communication and social mobilisation for promoting recovery and resilience for earthquake affected communities’ organised by AATWIN and UNICEF today, speakers stressed that the media must begin to play its part to raise awareness and be more proactive to support the crusade against human trafficking.”

Research has proven that poverty, illiteracy, social standing are factors contributing to human trafficking. “Especially in the more rural regions, our people are naive, illiterate and without much exposure, They are the ones who end up being trafficked for forced labor and are exploited,” said Rudrajit Das chief of C4D UNICEF.

“Due to language barrier, the media and the NGOs have been failing to convince or bring about awareness among the people,” said Anita Bindu, vice president of FNJ.

She added, “The media has been writing against human trafficking for the last 20 years but the condition has not improved due to political instability.”