Cross Border Trafficking And Rohingya Crises

Human Trafficking has been  a lucrative business globally. According to the data from US state department, annually, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across borders. People are trafficked for whole range of purposes like bonded labour, sex work, servitude and forced marriage.  Half of these trafficked victims are children.  

Cross border trafficking is quite prevalent from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar to India. India is not only the source and destination point for trafficking but often it is also the transit point for people trafficked from these countries to middle east.  Since the escalation of Rohingya crisis in Myanmar in 2017, more that estimated 40,000 refugees have come to India. Many of them have been trafficked through Bangladesh. They are mainly trafficked for bonded labour. Many of the women are trafficked for marriage. These victims have no rights, often living in inhuman conditions. Even when they are rescued, they do not get the required support making them vulnerable towards getting re trafficked. Indian legal system also does not ensure the required support to these victims.

Before the introduction of Section 370 of IPC through Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2013, there was no law which comprehensively defined trafficking. Presently, apart from section 370 of IPC, we have different laws which deal with different aspects of trafficking like Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act 1956, The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994, The Child Labour Act 1986 and Juvenile Justice Act 2000. However, all these laws deal with a particular aspect of trafficking. Need for a comprehensive law to deal with different aspects of trafficking including cross border trafficking has been long felt in India.

Also, present laws deal with trafficking as an organized crime with the focus on punishing the guilty. There has been lack of focus towards the victim. However, it has been increasingly felt that such an approach is not in the best interest of the victim.  This has only led to further stigmatization and victimization of the trafficked victims like Rohingyas in India. 

Escalation of Rohingya Crisis since 2017

Since August 2017, when the Rohingya crisis escalated in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, more than 7 lakh people have fled the country taking refuge mainly in Bangladesh and India.  We all know that vulnerability fuels trafficking making refugees the easy prey for traffickers.  Majority of the Rohingyas in India are staying in refugee camps where the level of security is very low. Children and woman are often kidnapped from outside the camps in night and sold to different parts of the country and sometimes outside the country. Often they willfully agree go with traffickers as they are promised work and better life. 

Rohingyas do not get the same treatment from the state as other trafficked victims who are Indian citizens. State does not provide compensation to them and they are often seen as a burden on the nation’s resources and source of terrorism. There is little will on the part of the countries like India to rehabilitate them. The focus of the Indian government has been to just repatriate them back to Myaanmar even if it is not in their best interest. It is important to follow a rights based approach when dealing with such trafficked victims and laws of the nation should provide for it. Sadly, Indian laws on trafficking fail miserably on this part. 

Rights based approach to deal with trafficking

It is important that we have a rights based approach to deal with trafficking. Victims should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity irrespective of whether they are the citizens of that country. They should have access to mechanisms of justice just like the citizens of that country.  They should also have access to all the welfare schemes including the healthcare schemes. They should be provided for psychological counseling as and when required. 

Sadly, that is not happening with Rohingya victims in our country. Even after they are rescued they are just sent to the refugee camps without any compensation provided to them. They also hardly get any support to access the legal system.

 Rohingyas are stateless people with neither their home country nor the nation to which they have been trafficked ready to support them. It is important that they should be entitled to fair and adequate compensation which should be easily accessible.  Also, laws should ensure that trafficked victims are not forcibly repatriated back to their country without their consent.

 Laws and conventions on cross border trafficking

United States have taken important steps to protect the rights of victims of cross border trafficking. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) which was enacted in the year 2000 provides for victims of trafficking to be eligible for federal funded or administered benefits and services to the same extent as refugees. The benefits include eligibility to reside in US on a temporary basis i.e. for 3 years.  Since 2000, Bill has been amended 4 times to add provisions which strengthen it by adding stringent provisions for the prosecution of the traffickers and new provisions for the assistance of victims and their rehabilitation.

India besides having different laws which deal with trafficking is also signatory to different international conventions like the “Convention for the rights of children”.  All the SAARC countries except Afghanistan have also notified the “Optional Protocol to the rights of Children on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography”. The protocol clearly states that “best interest of the child has to be the primary consideration in all the actions related to the child”. There is also the SAARC convention on “Regional Arrangements for the promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia”.  The convention stipulates that regional arrangements must be strengthened and measures implemented “for prevention of inter country abuse and exploitation of the child, including the trafficking of children for sexual, economic and other purposes”.  However, all this has not resulted in protecting the rights of cross border trafficking victims in India like the Rohingyas.

Lack of political will

Lack of will on the part of political parties has been one of the big reasons which led to inadequate change. After all, cross border victims are not vote banks for the political parties. Need of the hour is that political parties across the party lines should come together for the passing of the Bill in Parliament. However, the present political atmosphere in the country is going to only make it difficult. 

Conclusion

Finally, even if we get the best laws to deal with cross border trafficking, implementation of laws has always been a big concern in our country. Biases towards the cross border victims like Rohingyas and corruption on the part of the laws enforcement agencies like police has always made implementation of laws very difficult. Need for legal change has been enphasised enough in this article but building a conducive atmosphere towards Rohingya victims of trafficking in India will also require a social change.