NEW DELHI, July 5 – In what should alarm Assam Government, a UN body has reported that the number of missing children and women continues to remain high in the Northeastern region and that it is showing an increasing trend in Assam.
In its country assessment report, ‘Current Status of Victim Service Providers and Criminal Justice Actors in India on Anti-Human Trafficking’, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) reported that recurring floods in Assam have led to displacement of a large population and traffickers have targeted victims from such people. The reasons of trafficking in Assam have mainly been poverty, unemployment, migration from rural to urban areas, insurgency, communal clashes and natural disasters. There is trafficking of girls from Assam to Haryana and Punjab for marriage.
The report, released today, said that in March 2011, according to the State Crime Records data, total number of missing children in 2009 was 899, whereas in 2011 the missing number went up to 1,565. In 2011, the number of girls trafficked was more than double as compared to the boys. As far as the missing data of women is concerned, in 2009 the total number was 600 and in 2011 it was 1,243.
However, the figures furnished by Special Branch, Assam Police differed. According to the missing cases compiled by the CID Assam, in 2001, the total number of missing children was 1,065, whereas in 2009 the number was 745. As far as the missing of women from the State is concerned, the data states that 459 women were missing in 2001 and 794 were missing in 2009.
Women and children from Assam are trafficked to various parts of the country, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana, Gujarat for sexual exploitation, labour and forced marriages.
The vulnerable areas in Assam are Nagaon, Morigaon, Baksa, Nagrijuli, Dimakuchi and border areas of Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, particularly at the Mizoram and Bangladesh borders.
Women and children from Assam and Bangladesh are trafficked to Moreh in Manipur and from there, they are moved out to Myanmar and other countries in South East Asia through the Golden Triangle. Similarly, women and children from Assam, especially Jorhat, are trafficked to the Panga International Treaty Tower and moved to the Golden Triangle. Dimapur is a transit centre for people trafficked from Assam, especially Upper Assam, Lumding and Guwahati, the report said.
Illegal recruitment agencies have been very active in the North East, North Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra. Many of these recruitment agencies work illegally and lure women and girls into exploitative working conditions abroad. Victims from Nagaland were rescued from Malaysia after they had been sold to the prostitution rackets. The travel agents operating under the guise of an NGO, Abel and Leo Private Limited, had been luring girls in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya with attractive job offers, including domestic helps in Singapore and Malaysia. The victims were sold to a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur.
~ Assam Tribune
In its country assessment report, ‘Current Status of Victim Service Providers and Criminal Justice Actors in India on Anti-Human Trafficking’, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) reported that recurring floods in Assam have led to displacement of a large population and traffickers have targeted victims from such people. The reasons of trafficking in Assam have mainly been poverty, unemployment, migration from rural to urban areas, insurgency, communal clashes and natural disasters. There is trafficking of girls from Assam to Haryana and Punjab for marriage.
The report, released today, said that in March 2011, according to the State Crime Records data, total number of missing children in 2009 was 899, whereas in 2011 the missing number went up to 1,565. In 2011, the number of girls trafficked was more than double as compared to the boys. As far as the missing data of women is concerned, in 2009 the total number was 600 and in 2011 it was 1,243.
However, the figures furnished by Special Branch, Assam Police differed. According to the missing cases compiled by the CID Assam, in 2001, the total number of missing children was 1,065, whereas in 2009 the number was 745. As far as the missing of women from the State is concerned, the data states that 459 women were missing in 2001 and 794 were missing in 2009.
Women and children from Assam are trafficked to various parts of the country, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana, Gujarat for sexual exploitation, labour and forced marriages.
The vulnerable areas in Assam are Nagaon, Morigaon, Baksa, Nagrijuli, Dimakuchi and border areas of Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, particularly at the Mizoram and Bangladesh borders.
Women and children from Assam and Bangladesh are trafficked to Moreh in Manipur and from there, they are moved out to Myanmar and other countries in South East Asia through the Golden Triangle. Similarly, women and children from Assam, especially Jorhat, are trafficked to the Panga International Treaty Tower and moved to the Golden Triangle. Dimapur is a transit centre for people trafficked from Assam, especially Upper Assam, Lumding and Guwahati, the report said.
Illegal recruitment agencies have been very active in the North East, North Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra. Many of these recruitment agencies work illegally and lure women and girls into exploitative working conditions abroad. Victims from Nagaland were rescued from Malaysia after they had been sold to the prostitution rackets. The travel agents operating under the guise of an NGO, Abel and Leo Private Limited, had been luring girls in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya with attractive job offers, including domestic helps in Singapore and Malaysia. The victims were sold to a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur.
~ Assam Tribune
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