SSB's roadmap to curb human trafficking on Indo-Nepal border

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), a border guarding force, has drawn a comprehensive roadmap to put a check on human trafficking menace from across the Indo-Nepal border. The paramilitary force, which has been tasked to secure mainly borders of 'friendly' nations, has roped in NGOs working against human trafficking and other all stakeholders.

A few days after the programme was started on April 10, the SSB was able to nab four human traffickers and rescued 12 minors from the clutches of human traffickers on three different locations on Indo-Nepal border while crossing to India.

Out of total 222 cases of human trafficking that SSB has registered from the period of 2014 till April 2017, a total of 1,146 victims have been rescued and 339 traffickers have been apprehended.

"Human trafficking is just another name for modern day slavery, wherein the victim involved are forced, coerced and deceived into labour and sexual exploitations, the figures are scary. A workshop was also conducted by SSB in this regard and now this has yielded results by virtue of showing tremendous coordination," said Archana Ramasundaram, the SSB's first women Director General.

Apart from this, the paramilitary force has also signed a MoU with National Skill Development Council (NSDC) to hone the skills of victims as well as potential victims to make them self-dependent by providing better employment opportunities to them.

As per the road map, the emphasis was put on the use of technology and software such as Impulse for better monitoring of the cases and also keep track of victims, their rehabilitation, and prosecution of offenders.

Nepal is primarily considered a country of origin - a source for human trafficking. Victims of trafficking from Nepal move to India or the Middle East or even to Europe. As per official Nepal figures, the Ministry of Women Children and social Welfare of Nepal had identified 26 of Nepal's 75 districts as trafficking prone. The majority are from the hills, ethnic and schedule castes.

India shares 1,751 km of porous borders with Nepal and 699 km of porous borders with Bhutan and the SSB has been tasked to guard Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders by the Central government. The credit goes to SSB jawans that human trafficking has been considerably curbed after the deployment of SSB on these borders.

Poverty is the prime factor behind girls of Nepal getting into the trap of traffickers as about 38 per cent of Nepal's population live on or below the poverty line. Apart from poverty and lack of employment historical, cultural factors also contribute to the current state.