Apropos of the news story “Countering human trafficking” (THT, July 28, Page 8), all Nepalese except those who benefit immensely - directly or indirectly - from human trafficking would be only too happy to join the American ambassador in calling upon their government to ratify the Palermo Protocol as it means protecting every single precious Nepali life.

It is a matter of great pride for us that the envoy of an incredibly friendly government should have so much concern and goodwill for the local people that our government seems to lack. The Nepali government must unequivocally embrace Congressman John Farnsworth’s timeless wisdom and make it the cornerstone of the political structure of Nepal -  protecting every single Nepali citizen.

Accordingly, anyone who plays with the life of our citizens even vaguely and distantly, must be made to face deadly justice under universal jurisdiction. What happens here should not stay here anymore as even what happens in Magaluf with the British tourists is put all over the Facebook wall. Human trafficking is not just our problem, but is also the problem of countries that they are trafficked into like the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan.

Since many countries are affected one way or the other, human trafficking from Nepal or wherever should be treated as an international crime against humanity akin to terrorism. This becomes even more relevant at a time when President Trump is trying to build a wall to stop illegals into the US. Reports are rife that Nepali criminals also use Mexico as a stepping stone to push their ‘human package’ into the US, compounding problems to our friendly well-wisher. Once trapped, the traffickers must be sent to prison far away from home where they will be deprived of the company or protection of the local ‘tribal’ chiefs.

Nepal is truly blessed that it gets international assistance for not only health, education, elections, farming, clothing, roads and railways but also for the protection of its citizens from human traffickers. In order to show its seriousness and match our friends’ efforts at curbing trafficking, Nepal government must ratify the Palermo Protocol without hesitation, reservation and delay for the sake of protecting each and every single Nepali life, which must be its first and foremost priority.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Civic sense

A few days ago I was seeing the image on Facebook wall that someone was posting. The picture was that of a bus and an old man was standing whereas the two girls were sitting next to that man. It shows the young women do not understand what it means to rejoice over their rights for the seats that are allocated for them. In my opinion the seats must be vacated for the old, pregnant and people who are mentally or physically impaired. In the western countries the disabled person gets first priority.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne