Sikkim need to form a network to combat human traffickingphoto: Dr.Doma Bhutia
Gangtok:Reeling under armed conflict and poor socio-economic conditions, the Northeastern region has become a major transit route for trafficking of women and children, a premier NGO from the region said .
''The NE states were the only source of human trafficking but today it has become a destination and transit point due to the porous international border it shares with Bhutan, China, Burma and Bangladesh,'' said Romeo Myrchiang, project manager, of Impulse NGO Network in a state consultation meeting for prevention of child trafficking in Sikkim.
Mr Myrchiang attributed the rise in trafficking of women and children in the NE region to the poor economic conditions, armed conflict, lack of awareness and stronger governmental policies.
Apart from trafficking, children from NE are increasingly being used for smuggling drugs and arms, he said.
Presenting statistics of this growing trend, the project director said the traffickers were not prosecuted because there were no police complaints about the affected persons in the region.
He also urged for bringing the call centres and other such agencies under a government scanner as these agencies were proliferating human trafficking.
Sikkim police DIG Akshay Sachdeva said that there were no such organised networks that traffic women and child in Sikkim but added that it would be a delusion to say that it would not happen in future. He said that Sikkim police had been sensitised on a regular basis towards this issue and a stronger support from the society is needed.
Dr.Doma Bhutia, who is a member of Human Rights Network, Sikkim highlighted the threats and social misconceptions towards the human trafficking issue.
''Human trafficking has become the most lucrative and least risky crime today,'' she said
