Home | Back Issues | Contact Us | News Home
 
 
“All Citizens are Equal before Law and are Entitled to Equal Protection of Law”-Article 27 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh



Issue No: 174
January 16, 2005

This week's issue:
LAW Opinion
Rights Investigation
Law alter views
FACT File
Human Rights advocacy
Law Event
LAW Week
Rights Corner

Back Issues

Law Home

News Home


 

 

FACT file

The tsunamis and child trafficking

Children were one-third of the casualties of the tsunamis, and those who survived are suffering the worst effects of their aftermath. Untold thousands have been orphaned or separated from families. Without protection or caregivers, they are at greatest risk for starvation and disease. They are also in danger from human traffickers, who have long operated in South Asia with near impunity, and who must have viewed the tsunamis as an opportunity to prey on the victims. Amazingly, these criminals seem to have been largely stymied by governments determined to prevent further tragedy. In a region devoid of cheer, this is at least a hopeful moment.

Soon after the wave hit, Indonesia - where an estimated 35,000 children have lost one or both parents - moved to protect young people in hard-hit Aceh, barring the departure of children from that province unless they are accompanied by verifiable family members. Thailand is doing the same, and other areas are imposing their own controls. The emphasis is on finding lost children, registering them and housing them until they can be reunited with their families. Adoptions - which can sometimes be a front for trafficking - have been suspended in several countries. Child protection officers are making themselves visible in villages.

These extraordinary efforts will no doubt save young people who might otherwise be exported for sale as sex slaves or sweatshop labor. While estimates vary, the nations of South Asia are notorious for supplying a large part of the hundreds of thousands of children trafficked every year as part of a $12 billion criminal enterprise worldwide.

The clampdown by countries hit by the tsunamis follows pressure from the State Department, Unicef and nongovernmental organizations, like World Vision and Vital Voices, which have ratcheted up their monitoring and joined efforts to protect the most vulnerable disaster victims. The enormity of the tsunamis' impact and attention from a watchful world seem to have helped local officials get past the corruption in their ranks and overcome the kind of denial that has in the past helped give traffickers a pass. As a result, there have been just a handful of confirmed reports of post-tsunami child trafficking.

Welcome as these efforts are, they will mean little unless they evolve into a region wide commitment to keep up the pressure to stop child exploitation, not just as part of the recovery from a disaster, but also as an investment in a collective future.

Source : New York Times.

 
 
 


© All Rights Reserved
thedailystar.net