Bhutan emerging as a centre for trafficking

Jayanta Gupta,TNN | May 30, 2015, KOLKATA: With Bhutan fast emerging as yet another centre for trafficking after Nepal, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has tied up with several agencies, including the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to strengthen the border with India and counter movement of women and children who are sold to the flesh trade or end up as child labourers in several urban centres. The SSB is entrusted with guarding India's border with Bhutan. 

"We conducted a workshop with the SSB and other agencies in the presence of officials from Bhutan at Siliguri recently to sensitize them on human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. Bhutan is feeling the heat of organized crime with more cases of human trafficking being reported every year. Boys and girls are trafficked from Thimpu and other parts of Bhutan to India and Nepal. Women from West Bengal and Assam have also been forced into the flesh trade in towns like Phuentsholing, Gelephug and Samdrup Jongkhar," a UNODC official said. 

Several issues such as rehabilitation, co-ordination and mutual dependency were discussed in the workshop. Officials from the Australian customs and border protection service were also present during discussions. Officials from India and Bhutan spoke on existing legislative frameworks in their respective countries and the sharing of existing mechanisms to counter human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. Though the number of women and children trafficked from Bhutan is not as high as compared to countries like Nepal and India, there is need for sensitization in the country where lack of employment opportunities is an issue. Many cases are still not reported. 

"It is an immense issue confronting mankind and this region, in particular. The recent devastating earthquake in Nepal has already given rise to fears of trafficking and migrant smuggling from that country. Such crimes are engulfing the society and the ramifications are disastrous. All stakeholders will have to work together to counter the menace," said Kuldiep Singh, IG, SSB. 

An important part of the discussions was interviewing skills and interrogation techniques to identify whether a woman or child is being trafficked. Bhutanese nationals don't need to furnish passports while entering India. Neither do Indian citizens when they cross over into Bhutan. Everyday, hundreds of vehicles cross the border into India and travel to several parts of the country. The methodology of preparing checklists on identification and interception techniques was also discussed.