Nagaland Government fails to implement trafficking laws
Morung Express News
Dimapur| September 2
In a worrisome report, Prodigals’ Home in Dimapur today revealed that 315 children in Nagaland have gone missing from January 2007 till date. Prodigals’ Home, which has been documenting missing reports appearing in the local dailies, stated that 68% of the missing reports are from Dimapur, 27% from Kohima and the rest from other districts of Nagaland. 74% of the reported missing children are non-Naga while 26% are Naga children. The report further noted that out of the total number of missing cases, 230 are aged below 18 years as on the reported date of missing. 35% of the missing children are yet to be traced.
The larger picture emerges as further information revealed that out of the 230 missing cases, 85% of them are domestic workers mostly working in Naga homes. More than 60% of these domestic workers remain untraceable. It is not known where these missing cases can be linked to. However, Prodigals’ Home has expressed deep concern over the plight of children and the angle of trafficking in a larger perspective. In most cases, it is not even known who the children actually are or where they land up.
A press note from Prodigals’ Home stated that in May 2008, two Naga women were rescued by Dimapur women cell, from a brothel in Pune. They were trafficked on the pretext of free treatment in Guwahati, but were instead taken to Pune and sold for Rs.2 lakhs and this too on a contractual basis of 5 years. In another case, two minor girls from another state were rescued by Dimapur women cell in 2008. They were brought to Dimapur by a lady on the pretext of sight-seeing and were forced into sex work. One of the victims was known to the lady. The NGO observed that as there is no system to check and monitor the high number of people coming into Dimapur, the city has become a source and a transit point for such incidences.
As proper examination suggests that a larger number of the missing children are domestic workers, commonly ‘adopted’ by the employer, other issues involving adoption, domestic abuse and child rights also emerged. An NGO working for the rights of domestic workers reveals that most of these workers are ill-treated and subject to physical, mental and sexual abuses. The high percentage of missing non-Nagas is not surprising considering the number of physical-abuse cases the NGO deals with each week. On the issue of child trafficking, though, Prodigals’ Home further noted that the Dimapur women cell is ‘serious about the issue.’ However, it said that more needs to be done by various other stakeholders, law enforcing agencies and the public—to be sensitized on the issue—and in the process “make strategies collectively to combat this evil; our ignorance and silence is paving ways for traffickers to operate without fear or hindrances.”
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has a scheme called Ujjawala: ‘A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.’ This scheme, if properly executed, could go a long way in curbing and solving the problem of child trafficking. Inquiries revealed that projects sanctioned under the Ujjawala scheme have been given to three NGOs namely, Rural Women Development Trust in Mokokchung, Lazami Welfare Society in Kohima and Lohe Welfare Organization in Kohima and Zunhebtoto. The components approved are ‘prevention and rescue,’ and the geographical areas to be covered under the scheme are Mokokchung, Kohima and Zunheboto. It is further reported that the three NGOs were paid an amount of Rs. 85,500 each by the Ministry to execute the scheme. It is, however, not known if the NGOs have utilized the money judiciously, let alone made known its existence. On the other hand, the state government also fails to implement anti-trafficking laws.
Based on a study on “missing children” under the aegis of Foundation for Social Transformation – Enabling NEI, Prodigals’ Home is still analyzing the report. Some disturbing questions that Prodigals’ Home has raised are about the whereabouts of the missing children and the reasons for them disappearing. Noting the issue as a grave one, the NGO questioned why people are still silent on the issue. It further opined that the concern government department should select competent organizations at vulnerable districts across the state and work towards asking itself some serious questions to tackle the crime of trafficking.
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