The Aide et Action, an international NGO working on the issues of migrant population, organised a consultation on ‘Migration and Human Trafficking in Odisha’ here on the occasion of International Migrants Day on Tuesday.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) expressed concern over the migration scenario of the State.

Inaugurating the consultation, former OHRC Chairman Justice Bira Kishore Mishra said that intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations should act in a better coordinated way on human rights of migrants and ensure protection of migrants through sharing of experiences and designs of actions.

Presenting the overview of Odisha migration, the Aide et Action director  shared that underdeveloped western and southern districts experience large scale family migration to brick kiln industries located at growing cities of within and outside of States. According to the State Labour Department, 1.04 lakh have been migrated through registration. However, informal studies estimate that more than 2.5 lakh people only from western and southern districts migrate with families to work in the brick kiln sites every year. While migrating with families through an illegal process of recruitment by middlemen, many of migrants often face exploitation, abuse and bondage situation at worksites. Accompanying children are deprived of care, nutrition, health and education services.

State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Member Harihar Naik opined that there should be better coordination between the migrant children sending and receiving States.

Among others, Unicef, Odisha Child Protection Specialist Laxminarayan Nanda, trade union leaders Mahendra Parida and Kuntirani Padhan, National Law University Odisha Research Associate Dr Hrushikesh Meher, Biju Patnaik State Police Academy, Bhubaneswar Faculty Gourishyam Panda and urban planner Dr Piyush Rout spoke.