Tackling India's shame of human trafficking for forced labor

Children, young boys and girls vulnerable as they struggle with poverty, lack of education and jobs.

An alleged Indian human-trafficking victim leaves after being rescued from a village in Karnal in 2013. In India, mostly women are trafficked or tricked into different forms of slavery ranging from domestic service to prostitution. (Photo by AFP)

New Delhi:  Ramesh Bhagat was 10 years old when he came to New Delhi, trafficked by an agent who promised his family that he would be given a suitable job.

Fighting with poverty in eastern Indian Jharkhand state, Bhagat's family had hoped for a bright future for their son. Little did they know what the future had in store for their little boy.

Five years and three jobs later, Bhagat was rescued from a house in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh state on Oct. 24 where he had been working as a servant.

In all those years not only was he not paid anything for his work, he was not allowed to have any contact with his family.

"He seems to have been threatened and was in a state of shock. Even after nearly two months of his rescue, he has not uttered a single word about his ordeal," Gaurav Tomar, legal officer of the Domestic Workers' Forum who led the rescue, told ucanews.com.

The forum is part of Chetnalaya, the social wing of the Delhi Archdiocese, and is active in rescuing those trafficked from different parts of the country.



Children are most vulnerable

In 2015 alone the forum rescued 51 trafficked children, the majority of them girls.

In India, young girls and boys are trafficked or "sold" mostly from tribal areas of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal states to be child laborers, domestic helpers or for sex work.

"These areas are very backward and people struggle with poverty, lack of education and jobs. They are easy target as they also agree to work for very low wages," Tomar said.

According to government data, 2,295 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2014, while more than 2,300 cases were reported this year through September.

The Supreme Court of India on Dec. 9 directed the Indian government to set up an Organized Crime Investigating Agency by Dec. 1 2016 to exclusively investigate human trafficking cases in the country.

It also asked the government to draft comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation within six months to check this problem and for the rehabilitation of trafficked children.

Domestic workers are bonded laborers

Geeta, 17, who goes by only one name, trafficked from Jharkhand, told ucanews.com how she was beaten by her employer on a regular basis for more than a year and was not paid. She was rescued by Chetnalaya workers and sent back home.

Activists working for the cause of domestic workers argue that placement agencies need to be checked and properly registered and controlled to counter abuse and exploitation.

"Most of the agencies have mobile offices and are not easily tracked. They get their commission from the employers for giving them a domestic worker and also keep their salary," said Ishwar Sharma from Niramala Niketan, an organization that works for the rehabilitation of domestic workers.

Such domestic workers work as bonded laborers, Sharma told ucanews.com. "She cannot go anywhere as she does not have any money. All her wages are given to the placement agency where she was employed on a promise that she will get it whenever she wants but that never happens," he said.



Deceitful placement agencies

Sharma, whose organization rescued more than 10 trafficked women in 2015, said these placement agencies have agents in tribal areas of India who locate vulnerable girls and lure them with good job opportunities in cities.

Once the girls are brought to these agencies, some are even sexually exploited at the hands of placement agents. At the employer's house, these women are often beaten, burnt, sexually exploited and sometimes sold further.

Tomar pointed out that migration of people from rural areas to big cities is also giving rise to trafficking in the country.

"The line is so thin that you cannot differentiate between trafficking and migration. People's vulnerability is so high that they are willing to go to any extent to make a better living and that makes them an easy target for trafficking," he said.

Source: UCAN