Case Study Number – A:
“….. we enticed teenage girls, Khusiman (10) and Nabiran (12) from their houses in the name of offering decent jobs to the Santanagar area of Indian Capital city, New Delhi and later forced them to two pimps.
One of them, Khushiman gave in marriage to Bihari (that is, the resident of Indian State, Bihar) Muslim painter and Nabiram to a unemployed youth against Rs. 05,000 each. These two young girls were carried the other Indian states, at first to the West-Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and finally at New Delhi from their respective villages of Western Assam’s Howly area of Barpeta district in North-East India.
At last a plan was made to transport them to Middle East Country for begging. It was at that time, Assam Police caught in red-handed from New Delhi …..”, confessed Mafiza Begum (24), who was deserted by her husband 08 year ago hails from Barpeta district of Eastern Indian State, Assam, during the course of interrogation with her another kingpin assistant of this wicked racket.
IN BANGLADESH:
Case Study Number – B :
“….. what more we can say for everything is to all. Our house is just at the end of the remote village area, named Akredari under Satkhira district of Bangladesh. One day, one Muhammad Abu Siddiqui Mali was in love with me for the last few months and then promised to marry me.
After that, he took me to India and started to inflict repression upon me in various ways. At last, when it became unbearable, I had to flee away from there. This sort of bodily and sexually harassment are often mated to the Bangladeshi underage or young women and teenaged or minor girls, who real account is beyond description. We are mentally upset.
Truly speaking, the fact is that there is a section of people of our (both village and town) country, who always make scope to exploit the simple and innocent young and teenage girls and children like us by offering different temptations, like offering jobs or making their mistress, etcetera.
After that they take them to other semi towns or towns and sell them at a reasonable place to people engaged in petty business such as: rickshaw-pullers, taxi-drivers or bus-drivers et cetera, who are waiting in the rickshaw or bus or railway stations through some sly and greedy Dhur (that is, middleman) and to bring us to Indo-Bangla international border by hired motorcycle or Hally or Helicopter (that is, ethnic rickshaw-van, which is covered by a shade) in the guise of the ordinary passenger.
This way they are transported to the various parts of the world, like Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Oman, Middle East, West-Asia and their prostituting houses from one hand to another and there we got physically, mentally and psychologically inhuman repression, which is beyond expression. Now we are suffering from fear-psychosis …..”, recalled the horrible incident, 19-years-old Shahida Khatun and her 18-years-old sister Sabina Khatun.
(Source : Dainik Janakantha – Bangladesh, Dated 15.07.2002)
IN MMAYANMAR (BURMA):
Case Study Number – C:
….. It was sometime in second week of November, 2008. Abdul Malik (22-years-old), a Bangladeshi jobless youth, and 447 numbers of others Bangladeshi and Mayanmarese nationals (belong to the Rohingya Muslim community) – ages ranging between 18 and 60 – set sail onboard a private boat owned by Maulaya-a-Durugib (who is an ‘agent’). Maulaya-a-Durugib, the human-trafficker of Bangladesh had promised all of them good jobs and a new life in the countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
But, the dreams of Malik and others turned to nightmare at Bay of Bengal Sea on December 25, 2008. He luckily survived. But, many of the others – including women and children – were not as lucky as he was. 103 numbers of them are now behind the bars after being rescued by the Indian Coast Guard near Little Andaman – an island of India. They include 68 numbers of Bangladeshis and 35 numbers of Myanmarese. The remaining 344 numbers of nationals of aforesaid both the countries are missing and the Indian Coast Guard authorities fear that they might be dead by now.
The horrible incident once again brought under focus human trafficking in South Asia. This is not the first such incident though. It has been taking place since long – due to shattered socio-economic infrastructure of the countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and others South-Asian countries. Of these incidents, only a few come under media glare, while most go either unnoticed or ignored or unreported …..
(Source: Indian Coast Guard, Ministry Of Defence, Government of India, Dated 28.12.2008)
“Transporting of any human being from one country to another through means of implied or threatened or deception violence is called Trafficking”, according to the Global Alliance against child and woman trafficking.
At present, children and women trafficking are a common problem of South-East-Asia and South-Asia countries in the world. Day by day, this problem is becoming complicated. Every day, every month and every year a large number of children, women and girls are forcibly taken across the border of India, Bangladesh et cetera for not only “Camel Racing”, “Begging”, “Circus Activity” “Industrial or Bonded Labour”, “Maidservant” or “House Keeping”. “Child Care”, “Restaurant-work”, “Model”, Daneer, “Au-pairs”, but also used for different purposes like – “Prostitution”, “Bogus Marriage for Bed-partner”, “Bar-dancer”, “Making Porn-Films”, “Slave” or “Sex-slave”, “Human Organ”, “Adoption Racket”, “Arms & Drug Trade”.
Nowadays, in the world, children and women trafficking have become a profitable business. It is an easy way to make quick money. It is the third largest organized crime after Arms and Narcotics.
In United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Oman, Middle East, West-Asia (known as Persia) and South-West-Asia (known as, Mesopotamia), South Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand) countries et cetera, Camel Racing is the most popular game or well-known sport. In some places of the desert states, however, the sport takes a cruel form: in place of trained camel-riders, young children, both boys and girls are used. The children often between 03/04 to 09/10 years and light in weight are strapped to the camels. The animals are then whipped to set them running and the terrified cries of the children spur the animals on. Unscrupulous middlemen bring the child-jockeys often illegally, from impoverished countries.
A special ‘circle’, as they are locally called Dalal in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are found active in connection with child trafficking in the Indian States like West-Bengal, Assam, Tripura and including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra (especially in Mumbai city) and the districts like (including Dhaka) Jessore, Rajsahi, Khulna, Satkhira, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Comilla, Sylhet and Brahmanberia of the then East-Pakistan, that is, East-Bengal, popularly known as, Purba-Bangla, presently, Bangladesh, which are the land routes of this odd business.
More interesting fact is that especially in Bangladesh, there are some female human traffickers, who are locally called – ‘Jhumkawali’. Their role in taking specially the Bangladeshi young aged women and girls to the mainland of the India as well as Pakistan and obviously in the Middle-East countries, is the vital as they have link with BDR, Police forces or Police pimps of Bangladesh and the mediators of both the countries.
The Indian Police department has information of a number of dubious institutions or farms and persons like – ‘travel-agency’ and the ‘commission-agent’, ‘tout’ et cetera respectively that are involved in procuring and transporting children, including maimed ones, to the countries of West-Asia, South-West-Asia, where they are used in racing camels, a merciless sport of desert region to extract huge amount of money from the Ameer (that is, rich-man) or begging. For this reason, even, they often purchase children from person suffering from poverty and then manage to sell them in Arabian countries at high prices.
In this connection, it may be also said that a group of ‘rich-magnets’ get them involved either for bets or for earning money by an easy means. Sometimes, these illegal-transactions are done through anti-social-circles on percentage basis. Apart from this, theses unscrupulous agents tent at Indian and Bangladeshi villages and force the poverty stricken villagers to sell their minor girls and underage women for “prostitution”.
The Indian Police said, “Parents are usually offered about between Rs. 500 to Rs. 01,000 for a child and for a ‘handicapped’ it is about Rs. 01,500 to Rs. 02,000 (depending on age, health, and submissiveness), while for the girl child and young woman, it is around Rs. 05,000 to Rs. 15,000 but depend upon looks, submissiveness, age, health and maidenhood. The touts inform their contacts, when they are able to ‘buy’ over 10/15 to 20/25 numbers of child and 20/25 to 45/50 numbers of woman. The children are officially shown as accompanying relatives to ‘Gulf-countries’ on tour”.
Astonishing fact is, when the agents notice that they are unable to carry out the children, minor girls and young women to their destination – so-called ‘hell’ (that is, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Oman, Middle East, West-Asia and South-West-Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand countries et cetera) through the international, interstate and inter-district borders for the above unholy works, at that time they make arrange ‘False ludicrous Nikah’ (that is, marriage) and ‘False Husband’ for minor girls and young women and ‘False Parent’ for children respectively to make the trafficking as legal.
Apart from this, sometimes stepfather or stepmother sell their children and minor girls to the touts to earn more and more money, while on the other hand, in this job orphaned children and young women, who are also forcibly sold as ‘False Wife’ to men, who may resell them to a person from which the person earn money. Not only that sometimes, to run the houses, the person uses these young women and minor girls as ‘Maidservant’ for domestic purposes or household works to their respective farms and farmhouses.
On the other hand, the children have transported to foreign lands are often accompanied by their parents, who usually pay agents about Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000 for a job in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai et cetera under UAE, Muscat of Oman, Riyadh, Jeddah under Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand et cetera. Sometimes, discount to the amount of 50% (per cent) rupees as the fee is given to them for taking the children with them as their wards.
As a result of this, sometimes, cash money from around Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 is required to be paid to the agent for a deal. For this, these people are required to sell a little, what they have. The agents make them believe that they can earn around 10,000 to 15,000 Takas (that is, in Bangladeshi currency) or Rupees (in Indian currency) a month if they can go there with their children. They are further tempted that they can earn more if they can make their children apt to riding camels. The agent has assured that the children who will be taken for the sport of camel racing will be provided with good foods and cloths. They will live under the proper care and feel no want of anything. Further, they will be given proper training for riding camels and so on.
It is also learnt that the parents of the children have transported from the previous mentioned places are promise of 25 to 30 Tolas of Gold and Silver for this. In some cases, some of the parents are harassed by employing Police and have compelled them to agree to their proposals.
Sometimes, maidservants are employed to lure the parents. They are thus taught that life in Arabia is a happy and comfortable life and those, who will go there with them, can enjoy the same. The ‘Gang Stars’ are composed of local-agents (specially, ‘village-broker’ of India and Bangladesh) end their work after hand-ing over the children and women, who have collected in this way to the agents of Arabian countries and receive their immunization et cetera, according to the list, which is done by the Intelligence Bureau of India and Bangladesh.
Thus, throwing them in the ‘dreamland’ of affluence, these people exploit the Bangladeshi and Indian inhabitants in various ways. This children and women trafficking are done in three ways.
Firstly: They appoint ‘local- agents’. These agents move round the region, where poor and destitute families live, especially handicapped parents and make contact with them on a deal. These agents live in an around the above mentioned Indian States, specially (Brahmaputra riverine char or river-island or sandy-shore areas, under Dhubri, Barpeta, Kamrup, Goalpara, Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts of) Assam and the (districts like Burdhman, Nadia, Birbhum, Maldaha, Murshidabad, Baharampur, the then West-Dinajpur, that is, presently South-Dinajpur, the then East-Dinajpur, that is, presently North-Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and its adjoining areas of) West-Bengal and also before mentioned districts of Bangladesh.
Secondly : Another group of trackers live in an around important Indian cities like Mumbai in Maharashtra, Calcutta in West-Bengal, Chennei in Tamilnadu, New-Delhi et cetera and Dhaka in Bangladesh et cetera, who have established contact with persons connected with the deal and gathered children and women for the deal.
Thirdly: There is another group, who has been living in foreign countries like, UAE, Saudi Arabia, et cetera. They prepare a list of various children and women to be bold or to be made engaged in unsocial work. They do it by offering various temptations of money, ornaments and good jobs. They increase the amount of the dealing as per the situation and its intensity.
“In the village of India and Bangladesh, most of the parents are illiterate and ignorant of the consequences of the deal. They are poor agriculturists, daily-wage-earners, rag-pickers, daily-labourers, workers et cetera use to do jobs for living except a few, who have other means to support themselves. Their monthly income is about Rs. 01,000 to Rs. 01,500”, claimed a famous social-activists of Northeast India.
Barring a few parents of these countries, who are accompanied by their own children, the others are given charge of the children by agents in India and Bangladesh. From the above, it is clear that children, young girls and women are exported to these aforesaid foreign lands from above mentioned areas.
“This noxious business occur in above mentioned districts of the Indian North-Eastern States like Assam and West Bengal, where religious minority Muslim community people live in large scale including earlier mentioned other Indian States and also the above mentioned districts of Bangladesh, where these men live under below poverty line”, disclosed one of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Criminal Investigation Department of India (CIDI), Gunottam Bhuyan.
In India, the agents of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra is always alert of their functions. The ‘Passport’ or ‘Visa’ is easy to acquire. They prepare the passports or visas of the children and women to be transported as per the information have received from local-agents. These passports are made in false name, which are given to the candidates in the spot. Some are sent back, when found not suitable for their purpose.
Thus, they are sent to them in foreign lands, where final authority of the gang takes charge of these living beings and then post them to the spot, where they are necessary. They are engaged in the profession of begging, camel racing, bed-partner and servant or maidservant et cetera.
In Arab, these unfortunate women and children are kept in a house as per the system of dormitory. In a room, the provision of 25 to 30 children is made. Every day, from 08 am to 06 pm they are asked to prosecute the business of begging beside the Masjid (that is, Mosque). They are asked to utter, Haji-Baba, Sabil- Anna and sometime cry in a piteous tone. This helps them to earn 30 to 40 Rial (that is, in Indian currency Rs. 300 to Rs. 400) a day on an average.
They select spots, where the beggars are posted for begging are bought and sold by the agents at high prices. Because, begging is a kind of captivating business to earn easy money. It is for this reason the children (girl and boy) are forced to adopt this profession. These children don’t know any ‘Arabian Language’ and as such they cannot be taken to a distant place. Further, the question of keeping secrecy is easily maintained by this way.
In Gulf countries begging is illegal. It is forbidden for they have to obey their religious bounding Jakat, which is in vogue in Muslim countries. The children are brought here for begging. According to the Jakat Law – no capable man has the right to get the help of Jakat. This is why; the child trafficking has vehemently practiced in these countries.
Astonishing fact is that many of these beggars are the victims of the ‘Polio’, ‘Thalassaemia’, ‘Malnutrition’, ‘Vitamin’ deficiency, et cetera diseases and so it is not difficult for the agents to use them in this purpose. These people, who become the victims of this ‘trade’ doesn’t know anything about health and hygiene or of medical science. Therefore, they think it is a curse of Allah (that is, God) when any of the children fall victim of polio like diseases and so they don’t hesitate to part with them.
Thus, these handicapped children make either by diseases like polio et cetera or by any other artificial in-human process, like ‘burning their faces, chopping of their hands, legs or make them to walk or crawl’ et cetera in order to make them object of getting mercy from peoples and are required to set out for unknown foreign lands leaving their beloved parents. The children are defaced or deformed in that way that even their parents cannot recognize them properly.
“Camel racing across the ‘desert’ is centuries-old Bedouin tradition, which has become a money-spinning sport in the oil-rich Middle East countries. We have earned between $50/$55 to $105/$110 per month, but, we have kept in prison like conditions, where we are consciously malnourished to put us light so the camels may run quicker. It is true that the children race at speeds of up to 40 to 50 kilometres per hour.
At times we are used to get so weak that they are used to keep stones in our pockets to raise our weight at the weigh-in before the runs, reason: anybody, whose weight is too low cannot take part in the race”, revealed Muhammed Munir, poor child of the Chachraan hamlet under (rural) Punjab province of the nation, Pakistan, in front of the Zubair Shad, director of a project to help and rehabilitate child jockeys, run with UNICEF of Pakistan.
“….. I have more than 400 numbers to 500 numbers of friends. One day, I have seen, one of my best friends has been killed in a race after his binding belt (that is, nizgah) is become knotted in the camel’s legs, which is very painful and I have lost my dear …..”, cried Munir.
Sometimes, a female representative is selected to become ‘foster-mother’ for a few children. This foster-mother then put in temporary marriage with a male-head for three months or so. It is nothing but “sex-trade” and for this around Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 is usually paid.
Observers and the local people are of the opinion that the chief cause of children and women trafficking lies in the present population explosion, unemployment, poverty, abuse, divorce, violence, lack of alternative source of income, polygamy et cetera in Bangladesh and the religious Muslim minority community infested areas of India. The scarcity of foodstuffs, clothing, sheltering and the high prices of essential commodities aggravate the situation of children and women trafficking in these areas. Over and above, lack of good production in agricultural-fields, industries, trade and commerce also add fuel to this rising flame of trafficking in these areas.
The scholars and the Non Governmental Organization (NGO)s also emphasized, “Truly speaking, this ugly attack closely has observed in the society of Muslim community, whose 70% (per cent) to 75% (per cent) live in very poor conditions, which has compelled to force them to do this evil deed”.
But, the mysterious fact is that neither any religious committees nor any authority of religious sections have issued any bar for breeding this sort of inhuman children and women trade and “flesh-trade”. Even, the Haj-authorities decline to believe the fact.
According to the observers and the NGOs of North-East India, trafficking of women and children in South-Asian countries is acquiring phenomenal proportions. In the absence of data glean from empirical studies, woman’s groups have made a rough estimate that Indian and Bangladeshi women are held in bondage in Arabian countries including the Harem (that is, forbidden) of the rich-men and also the Pakistani ‘red-light’ districts number a little over 02,00,000.
Apart from this, in Bangladesh, it has estimated that an average of 04,500 to 05,000 women and children are smuggled to Pakistan every year. But, as per estimate by the Human Rights activists, 200/300 to 400/500 young women and children are smuggled every month from Bangladesh to Pakistan while according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) reports have said that on average 04,000 to 05,000 women and children from Bangladesh are being deported to Pakistan in a year.
As per another report is concerned, in 1992, there were 01,65,000 Bangladeshi women engaged in sex-work in Pakistan. The figure is expected to have crossed 02 lakh at present. The Lawyers for Human Rights & Legal Aid and even, the NGOs have calculated that approximately 01,000 to 02,000 Indian and Bangladeshi women are brought into Pakistan every month as ‘human-cargo’. More than 02,000 Bangladeshi women are languishing in Pakistani Jail (that is, prison)s and have charged under Pakistan’s Foreigner’s Act of 1946 or have framed under the Hudood Ordinance that prohibits extra marital relationships.
Archana Tamang, Coordinator of South Asia Programme, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) felt, “Trafficking of minor girls and under aged women from the aforesaid South Asian countries into the Middle East countries for the purpose of prostitution was almost certainly the busiest ‘slave traffic’ of its kind anywhere in the globe. Not only that the breakdown of traditional industries and the attraction of city life have resulted in trafficking assuming alarming proportions”.
Their plight has no solution, because, if they are repatriated to India and Bangladesh, they can be persecuted. Of the Indian, Bangladeshi et cetera earning livelihood as prostituted in West-Asia, Pakistan et cetera, 20% (per cent) are under 18 to 20 years and nearly 35% (per cent) have been abducted to the country under the pretext of marriage and good jobs.
From North-East India and Bangladesh, women are being sold for marriage at the rate of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 to men, who can’t afford ‘dowry’ both in North-East India, Bangladesh et cetera. For example : there was a case of 19 years old young virgin woman, Sakina Begum, who was brought from a village of Kurigram district of Bangladesh. Later, she was sold to a tout, who brought her to Pakistan and sold again for marriage at the rate of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000. These victims, who are picked up and made to suffer, further, required to undergoing ‘sexual-assault’ in the hands of the Police-pimps.
Another aspect of trafficking that has recently been discovered is that of the Rohingya Muslim population of Myanmar (that is, Burma). A large segment of this population fled Myanmar for Pakistan and Bangladesh. A large number of women from this refugee groups were forced under circumstances of extreme poverty to join the flesh-trade. There are several Rohhingya Muslims in Karachi of Pakistan also.
“In the recipient countries, as sex partners, the demand for Indian and Bangladeshi underage women and minor girls is more than Nepali, Bhutanese, Mayanmarese, Malaysian and Indonesian girls. Because, they are comparatively safer and free from HIV and AIDS. So, it is easy to realise, why the Indian and Bangladeshi girls have become a prime target for women and child traffickers. Reason: they can easily allure the poverty stricken and illiterate rural girls by promising them to give better life through good jobs in the towns and the cities from where they can receive monthly fat-salaried pays. And this is why, women and children trafficking has been rising gradually in an alarming rate in these particular two countries”, researched report of the socio-examiners.
“The traffickers or international gangs even, keep their eyes specially upon young women, minor girls and children compared to men from backwards villages and semi-towns having poor infrastructure of Bangladesh and India have become a prime target of the human traffickers for women and child trafficking. The needy parents of the aforesaid ill-fated simple girls of said villages and semi-towns also fall prey to sweet words of the unsocial traffickers as they hope for a better future for their Virgos. Not only is that, from time to time, these above ingenious young girls forcibly married off to old men by parents (even, step-father, step-mother or step-brother or step-sister). But, in the end, their daughters or sisters are trafficked beyond the international border.
The sorrowful thing is that sometimes, trafficked women and girls somehow manage to flee from the cruel grasps of human traffickers; but, at last, they fail to regain their ‘status’ in the civil society as usual as they are usually compelled or forced to adopt the impure-work – ‘commercial-sex’.
In this matter, the poor, innocent and simple parents (basically belong to remote villages or semi towns of the said zone) either keep mum about missing of their girl children for it means help them one less mouth to feed or be benumbed with fear of police interrogation. Even, sometimes parents refuse to accept their returned or rescued girl-children for ‘society’ (!)”, revealed the Official of the Indian Assam State Police Force, Shyamal Saikia.
In the brothels of the South-East Asia, West-Asia and South-West-Asian countries Indian and Bangladeshi women and girl children are marked with labels to draw attention to the clients because they look like ‘good’, ‘fresh’, ‘young’, ‘low paid’ and ‘easy to tame’, et cetera”, admitted social scholars. Apart from that another international gang is reportedly engaged in human trafficking for business of human organs (transplant) like kidney, eye and heart.
“It’s a shame thing that yearly about 20 to 25 thousands our women and children are smuggled out from Bangladesh and so far around 05 to 08 lakhs women and children in various ages have been trafficked to the South-East Asia, West-Asia and South-West-Asian countries – Pakistan, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, et cetera since 1980s. Not only that the sharp increase in the women trafficking from Bangladesh are for various ‘social-problems’ like early marriage, torture for dowry, polygamy, Tallaq (that is, divorce), death of husbands, widow, frustration in conjugal life and conjugal quarrel et cetera from which the agents of the human traffickers of the international mafia gang generally obtain advantage. And for these aforementioned reasons, the international human traffickers or gangs keep their eyes on specially above these socially victimised women and minor girl children compared to young men or boy for”, rued Executive Director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association, Salma Ali.
“All international human rights charters are also strictly against human trafficking but its rise could not be stopped because the international racket of traffickers is very strong and the law has limitations. The existing law is stringent enough to provide punishment to the traffickers but the law itself has some limitations for which it is difficult to punish the culprits.
In most cases, these traffickers spend some days in jail custody and then release on bail through the loopholes of the existing law, which doesn’t have precise and specific guidelines or rule to different aspects of the offence.
Whenever human-traffickers are arrested from international border areas, the law enforcers file cases against them under Foreigners Act or Passport Act. As a result, their offences regarding human trafficking do not come under legal procedure”, claimed the noted lawyer of Supreme Court of India, Arun Jailtley.
“The human traffickers cannot be punished under the existing system for some other ‘system’ too, such as : lack of proper and timely investigation by the police personnel, weak sources, lack of filing cases and charge-sheet files by the police stations and honourable courts (whether it is ‘Lower Court’ or ‘High Court’ or ‘Supreme Court’), scarcity and absent of eyewitness, inefficiency in processing cases, delay dally proceedings of the honourable courts, leakage of sources et cetera allow the culprits to go unpunished or the tough law is unable to give any kind of instance of exemplary punishment of women and children traffickers.
Therefore, till any tough law is implemented, no rectification or change will be brought about”, conceded the Lawyers of the Indian Bar Association.
Although, in this matter, Bangladesh, as the issue of trafficking of minor girls, women and children draws more attention in last 10 to 15 years. In the year, 2000, the Government of Bangladesh had enacted a new law with the provision of harsh punishment of the traffickers. In this law, the maximum punishment is death sentence, while the minimum is 10 years imprisonment for trafficking minor girls, women and children.
The woman’s groups of South-East Asian countries have demanded that the SAARC nations not only should set up a commission to investigate trafficking of women and children, but also should make fact-finding missions to investigate and identify the trafficking syndicated, the routes used and the criminal nexus that surrounds the trade. Even, the woman’s groups have claimed that the Governments of the said South-East Asian countries should take legal action for dismantling trafficking networks.
(Author is former BBC, The Times of India, The Statesman & Hindustan Times Contributor of Northeast India/The writer specialises in Northeast Affairs)
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