'Human trafficking borderless, organised crime'

New Delhi, October 7: Union Home Minister Rajth Singh on Wednesday dubbed human trafficking as a “borderless, organised crime” and said that his ministry had put in place an effective mechanism to curb the mece. “Human trafficking is a very sensitive and serious issue.  

It is a borderless, organised crime and India alone is not a victim of human trafficking as it is a global phenomenon,” Rajth Singh said as he iugurated a tiol conference on human trafficking here. He also launched a portal - mysecurity.gov.in - at the event for women safety and protection. According to tiol Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, human trafficking cases in the country had increased by almost 38 percent from 2009 to 2013. A total of 2,848 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2009, 3,422 cases in 2010, 3,517 cases in 2011, 3,554 cases in 2012 and 3,940 cases in 2013.

Citing a recent report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the minister said that the figures on south Asia were startling, with more than 1.5 lakh people reported as victims of human trafficking in a single year. “It is shocking that young girls are sexually exploited, children are subjected to amputation, people are sold like cattle and bonded labour is still rampant.

No civilized society can tolerate such inhuman practices. The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has put in place an effective mechanism to curb the mece and some remarkable achievements have been made in this regard,” he added.

The minister said that the MHA was working on a revised scheme to strengthen the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) with cooperation of the state governments. He also underlined the role of stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations, especially in the rehabilitation of rescued victims. “It is essential to have a nodal coorditing agency for the purpose and the Crime and Crimil Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project will prepare a database on crimils engaged in human trafficking. It is also the responsibility of all the ministries to contribute in checking human trafficking,” Rajth Singh said.

Expressing concern about human trafficking from Bangladesh and Nepal, he said: “India recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh to check human trafficking and share information on agencies or individuals involved. We hope to sign an agreement with Nepal as well.” (IANS)