India signs Delhi Declaration to combat human trafficking

The sex industry in India allegedly involves over 3 million people, including traffickers. Of these, 30% of victims are children

India has committed itself to the goal of abolishing human trafficking, which poses a grave threat to millions of its men, women and children, with the launch of the landmark Delhi Declaration that is expected to offer a tool for increased advocacy against human trafficking. The Declaration was born at the recently concluded First South Asian Regional Conference on Human Trafficking in New Delhi, organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

UNODC, South Asia, in collaboration with the ministries of home affairs and women and child development, kicked off the initiative to generate greater awareness about the widespread evil of human trafficking in South Asia, which is second only to Southeast Asia in the magnitude of the problem.

The Declaration calls on all authorities dealing with the illegal activity, including the police, prosecutors and the judiciary, to undertake concerted action in law enforcement so that traffickers are punished quickly and severely.

The Declaration aims to carry out training and capacity-building of all stakeholders and strengthen legal processes wherever required, including protection of victims.

It also aims at reducing demand for prostitution, use of child labour and forced labour and strengthening the collaborative efforts of NGOs, local government and other institutions in order to prevent all forms of trafficking.

Speaking at the conference, India’s Minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhury expressed the hope that the Delhi Declaration would evolve into an effective campaign against human trafficking in South Asia. According to UN estimates, approximately 150,000 people are trafficked within South Asia every year.

Emphasising that a major area of concern is the early and safe repatriation of cross-border victims to prevent re-trafficking, Chowdhury said that her ministry, along with the Indian home ministry, was working on a joint plan of action and roadmap with its Bangladeshi counterparts for quick and safe repatriation of cross-border victims of trafficking from both countries.

Chowdhury also called for greater cooperation amongst SAARC countries to tackle the menace in the South Asia region.

Human trafficking has emerged as a booming illegal international trade, making an estimated $ 32 billion annually at the expense of millions of victims, many of them children who fall easy prey to sexual exploitation and forced labour.

According to Chowdhury, the sex industry in India involves more than 3 million people, including traffickers. Of these, 30% of victims are children.

Recent figures based on information from various ministries and agencies estimate that almost 90% of trafficking cases in India are “intra-country”; only 5-10% are related to cross-border trafficking, mainly from Bangladesh and Nepal. Despite that, figures from India’s home ministry reveal that only around 6,000 cases are registered every year under the Immoral Trafficking Protection Act.

“Under the ITPA Act, 7,075 people were convicted in the year 2005, compared to 6,341 persons convicted in 2004,” said an official source at the ministry. The home ministry, along with the women and child development ministry, is formulating a national action plan to address issues like urban trade and bonded labour, which have so far escaped the attention of the law. As part of these efforts, 8,000 police officers and 1,000 prosecutors have undergone training in the country, so far, to better deal with the issue of trafficking.

The low conviction rate of traffickers in India is cause for concern among international bodies including the United Nations which decided to frame the Delhi Declaration to commit India to the goal of fighting trafficking.

Source: The Asian Age, October 12, 2007
UNI, October 9, 2007