Human traffickers are increasingly targeting vulnerable Nepalese people for forced labour and sexual exploitation following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated the Himalayan nation on April 25.
In just two months after the earthquake, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards the India-Nepal border has rescued 59 victims, including 40 males and 19 females in the age group of 10 to 20 years, from the clutches of 23 traffickers.
There has been an alarming rise in cases of human trafficking, said BD Sharma, Director General of the SSB, adding, “We have strengthened the vigil along the border and also roped in NGOs from Nepal to identify and nab human traffickers.”
Sharma told The Pioneer, “After the earthquake, our personnel/units on the India-Nepal border were alerted and activated in view of increased possibility of human trafficking following the miseries caused by the natural calamity. As a result of heightened vigil along the border, our personnel were able to arrest traffickers.”
The DG said reports received from various channels also indicate that the traffickers are trying to take advantage of the human misery and targeting children and girls.
Earlier too from January 1 to April 24, 2015 (a day before the quake), the paramilitary had rescued as many as 45 victims and nabbed 12 traffickers in eight cases, said Sharma.
It is understood that cases of trafficking increased after the earthquake in which more than 8,000 people were killed and more than 23,000 injured. The poor rural communities suffered the most in the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake. And since then many among them have been the target of traffickers.
In 2014, the SSB had rescued 33 victims, nabbed eight traffickers in as many cases. The paramilitary rescued 108 victims from 19 traffickers who were subsequently booked in 14 cases in 2013.
As many as 28 victims were nabbed from Bihar’s Raxaul Railway Station followed by 15 from Jogbani, six from Kamla border outpost under Jaynagar police station and three from New Jalpaiguri.
Post-earthquake, smuggling of narcotics has also increased if the figures of seizures during the period are any indication. The paramilitary has seized narcotics worth `6.28 crore in just two months after the quake as against a total seizure of the contraband worth `5.42 crore from January to April 24.
The overall figure of seizures of narcotics in terms of weight in the first six months of this year has surpassed the total confiscation of such items in 2014. The SSB has seized over 5,456 kg of the contraband worth `35.46 crore and facilitated arrest of 119 criminals in 135 cases.
In 2014, the paramilitary seized 2,925 kg of narcotics worth `46.48 crore and nabbed 226 criminals in 202 cases. The SSB has seized charas, opium, brown sugar, smack, bhang from the frontiers at Ranikhet, lucknow, Patna, Siliguri and Guwahati.
However, SSB officials said there was no evidence to link rise of smuggling of narcotics with the earthquake. “There could be other reasons too. May be because we are seizing more cargoes or there could have been bumper crop of charas in Nepal this year,” said an official.