http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/india-rescues-children-traffickers-exploiting-nepal-earthquake-aftermathAuthorities in India have rescued more than 20 children from a human trafficking network targeting families who lost their livelihoods in last month’s earthquake in Nepal. The 7.8-magnitude quake, which killed more than 8,600 people, devastated rural areas, with hundreds of thousands losing their homes and possessions. In its aftermath, campaigners warned that girls and young women were vulnerable to abduction by traffickers supplying brothels across south Asia. However, the operation in the northern Indian state of Bihar has underlined another problem: traffickers targeting the children of parents who have lost their jobs in the disaster. “We have rescued 26 children from the clutches of human traffickers in the past 20 days and sent them to rehabilitation centres,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a senior labour official in Bihar’s East Champaran district.
The children’s parents, from poor villages in northern India, had been working as migrant labourers in Nepal and were laid off after the earthquake. As they crossed into India at the Raxaul border post, they were convinced to allow their children, between the ages of eight and 14, to travel with the traffickers, who promised to give them well-paid jobs in comfortable conditions. The children were in fact being taken to a bag-manufacturing factory in Mumbai, Kumar said. Four traffickers were detained by the police. Two Nepali children were also intercepted. Though progress has been made in India towards eradicating child labour, the problem remains serious.
