Nepal's apathy strengthens the tenacity of trafficking networks

Widespread poverty, unemployment and increased connectivity between India and Nepal are behind trafficking and forced labor, experts say.

May 29, 2024

Some 35 Nepalese workers pose for a photo with their rescuers in Srinagar, India, after being rescued May 8 from a forced labor camp. (Photo provided)

By Pragati Shahi
Until last month, Ranjit Chaudhary had little hope of returning alive from the Jammu-Kashmir region, India's far north.

The 38-year-old Nepalese man lived in captivity for more than three months in the basement of an old house in Kralpora, a remote village about 90 kilometers from the city of Srinagar.

“I am happy to be back with my family,” he said, holding back tears after reuniting with his family in Laxminiya, a village in southeastern Nepal, on May 16.

He was one of 35 men, aged 15 to 44, rescued from forced labor.

Chaudhary and around 40 others were hired from Nepali villages to work on a canal construction project in Jammu, promising high pay and perks such as food and accommodation.

An estimated 35,000 Nepalis are trafficked to India every year, and in 2022, around 15,000 of them were girls aged 6 to 16, according to a report by the National Human Rights Commission man from Nepal.

Widespread poverty and unemployment in Nepali villages, open borders, increased connectivity between India and Nepal and the affinity of their cultures are tempting people to get trapped in the network of traffickers, experts say.

For example, Chaudhary and his companions are daily wage laborers belonging to economically poor and socially deprived Dalit families in Dhanusha district in southeastern Nepal, and attractive offers tempted them.

Chaudhary's family of four young children and his wife depend on his income to survive. His wife also occasionally does odd jobs as a day laborer to support the family.

The income crisis forced Chaudhary to take loans to support his family. His experience at the hands of traffickers and forced labor has traumatized the family, but Chaudhary is desperate for another job.

For socially and economically poor Dalits like Chaudhary, Nepal's villages offer no employment opportunities other than working as daily wage laborers or agricultural laborers.

Social workers say work on farmlands is seasonal and the lack of employment for long periods makes them easily lured by offers from trafficking networks.

Inhumane treatment
Two entrepreneurs from the Indian state of Bihar, which borders Nepal, promised Chaudhary and others 1,100 Nepalese rupees ($8.7) for six hours of work a day, almost double the salary they won in their village.

They were also promised free accommodation and food. Also, to gain their trust, the traffickers offered each worker 7,000 rupees.

“The offer was tempting because there were no jobs in the villages. I planned to work for a month and return with money to repay some of my debts,” said Chaudhary, who earned around Rs 600 as a daily wage laborer in his village.

Chaudhary said they were forced to work as bonded laborers on several construction projects for up to 16 hours and held captive without any payment or proper food or water.

The workers were locked in a room except during working hours between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and forced to sleep, eat and urinate on the floor of the room. Their phones, ID cards and money were confiscated and they were kept under 24-hour surveillance, Chaudhary claims.

“I received black and blue blows on my back with water pipes when I asked for my salary,” Chaudhary said at an event in Sarlahi district to welcome rescued Nepali workers home .

Chaudhary and 35 other Nepalese workers were rescued in mid-April, three months after leaving their village. The rescue operation was launched after two members of the group escaped and returned home in April to tell their harrowing stories.

The Indian Police in Srinagar carried out the rescue operation in collaboration with social activist Saroj Raya and a voluntary organization named KIN India, along with two other agencies working to end human trafficking between India and the Nepal.

KIN India, an agency based in New Delhi, worked with the Good Shepherd International Foundation of Nepal and Opportunity Village Nepal.

Millions of people are looking for jobs
The International Organization for Migration estimated in 2019 that around 4 million Nepalis, or more than 13% of the country's 30 million population, live and work in India at any given time.

India remains the most popular transit and destination place for Nepalis, and victims are mostly forced into forced labor and sexual slavery, according to the State of Migration Report 2023 released by the Center study of work and mobility in Nepal.

Nearly 1.5 million Nepalis are at risk of various forms of human trafficking, according to a 2019 report by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal. Every year, nearly 1,000 Nepalese women and girls are rescued from India.

The majority of them work in the informal sector as agricultural workers, cleaners, security guards or in factories, on construction sites or in roadside restaurants, making them vulnerable to exploitation. economic and sexual, said Nabin Joshi, director of KIN India.

KIN India has partnered with the Good Shepherd International Foundation, a non-profit organization led by nuns of the Good Shepherd Congregation, which works to protect vulnerable women and children from trafficking to India and d other countries via India.

The failure of the government's administrative apparatus remains the main reason for the scale of human trafficking in Nepal, says Ganesh Gurung, an expert on labor migration.

“India-bound workers continue to be excluded from government plans and policies implemented to protect migrants. [going elsewhere] and address their concerns,” said Gurung, who has contributed to Nepal’s labor migration policy.

With India and Nepal allowing free movement of people without any travel documents, Nepalis do not need permits to work in India, making trafficking easier, Gurung said.

“State apathy favors trafficking”
He said the Nepal government's Department of Foreign Employment does not have a system to collect data on people migrating for work, whether they are trafficked or not.

The government must also work to increase employment opportunities for its citizens to help people like Chaudhary live in their home countries with their families.

Sister of the Good Shepherd Taskila Nicholas, the national representative of the nuns' agency who worked with two other agencies in the rescue mission, said: “Men from poor and marginalized communities are vulnerable to trafficking for forced labor . »

“Girls, women and children are very vulnerable to trafficking from Nepal to India. They are forced to work as forced laborers and sex workers,” said Sister Nicholas, whose agency focuses on rescuing trafficked women.

Since 2019, the agency of the Good Shepherd Sisters, in partnership with Opportunity Village Nepal, has been implementing a “cross-border anti-human trafficking project” to rescue Nepalese women and girls trafficked to India .

They also help rehabilitate and reintegrate rescued people and strengthen surveillance mechanisms in border areas through Indo-Nepal cross-border initiatives.

Lack of government initiatives in Nepal forced Chaudhary to consider migrating to Malaysia as a casual worker a fortnight after he was rescued from India.

He said he had “no choice” but to opt for a life in Malaysia or a Persian Gulf country because he had to “take care of my family”.

Chaudhary said he was aware of the “challenges of working as a low-wage migrant worker” but said he was “in dire need of money” to support his family, like millions poor Nepalese men.

“I'm going to take out loans and try to go to Malaysia, where my uncle works. I hope life treats me well this time,” he said.

Sister Nicolas said it was “important for governments to ensure sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors by involving them in various government programs for employment and income-generating opportunities.”

“We will be in touch with government agencies and survivors to provide the necessary support from us in this regard,” the Catholic nun said.–ucanews.com