Parents now key players in trafficking

New Delhi: Contrary to the earlier trend where human traffickers used to target vulnerable families from Bihar and UP to traffic women and children to various states across the country, a Delhi-based NGO has found that a new trend has emerged wherein parents coordinate with traffickers and pay them money to send their children to work in brick kilns, embroidery units, and bangle making factories in Rajasthan and Bangalore.

This trend was noticed after NGO workers from Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre (JAC) Society observed that once the children were rescued from their pitiable conditions and produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), the parents reached Delhi within 24 hours, after being tipped off by the traffickers. The parents then claimed that their children were never trafficked and the accused went scot free.

Delhi continues to be a transit point for traffickers who use the cover of a floating population and connectivity to other states to traffic women and children from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Rajasthan.

The general secretary of Prayas, Amod Kant, told this newspaper that three states operate as major hubs of trafficking.

“Delhi is the chosen state for transit of these children who come from various states. But Rajasthan and Bihar are states where they are trafficked to. This happens because there is a large number of small-scale and cottage industry in these areas. Mostly, the children are involved in making bangles and handicrafts,” he added.

Explaining how the NGO spotted the trend, he said that the parents are in cahoots with the agencies operating as traffickers. “When we rescue children, it seems that there is a clear consent. These children have not run away from home. We can’t say if the parents have sold their children, but yes, there are cases where they receive money and send them to work,” he said.

Many of the trafficked women and children also make their way into the Southern state of Karnataka to work as domestic maids.

This new trend not only adds to the problem of the NGO and the government, it also highlights the apathy of the families who are forced to send their children to work.