The unsavory controversy over the alleged exploitation and torture of two Nepali women by their Saudi employer in India has once again brought human trafficking from Nepal into focus. It is unlikely that the victims will get justice as the accused enjoys diplomatic immunity. To make matters worse, the family of one of the two victims who have returned to Nepal has refused to accept her back. Ironically, they are berating her for putting the family to shame. This is yet another tragedy of trafficking.

 

But there is little point in deliberating the nitty-gritty of human trafficking from Nepal. The problem is well known and understood, though very few cases make it to media. Have we given up? Have we accepted human trafficking as an insurmountable problem? Nepal has anti-trafficking laws, though it’s not well equipped to tackle multiple facets of this modern-day slavery. Prosecutions are few; convictions rarer still.

 

There is also a concern and a sense of shame over the rising level of trafficking—not just of girls and women, as is generally perceived, but also of male children and adults. It is no secret that most trafficked females and males are forced into commercial sex or exploitative labor. It is inhuman.

 

Most human trafficking is disguised as migration or even marriage, often in the knowledge of the victims’ kith and kin. The victims, often, are also aware of what lies ahead. All have been witness to the oppressive and depraved game for years. But the lure of better life usually defies better sense.

Our law-enforcement authorities are aware of the scale and debilitating impact of human trafficking on safety, security and privileges of citizens. But they remain ineffective either due to inadequate resources or the easy money which they can make from this high profit-low risk business.

 

However, it’s the same sad story in all under-developed and developing countries. The income differential between what was, till late, called the third word and the advanced countries ensures an uninterrupted supply of deprived and vulnerable individuals to the rich places.

We, therefore, need to put things into perspective. Human trafficking is not unique to our country. Most human trafficking happens in Asia, particularly across the Greater Mekong region of Kampuchea, Laos, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal.

 

India, which is the major destination for persons trafficked from Nepal (largely because of the long and porous border), is itself victim of intra-country trafficking. Thousands of gullible boys and girls are frisked away from relatively poorer Indian states to its big cities and forced into prostitution and bonded labor. Significantly, similar trafficking is in evidence in most advanced countries, largely for flesh trade.

 

I am deliberately keeping human smuggling out of the purview of this article as it involves the consent and active collaboration of people illegally crossing the borders of a country. This is a crime against the country in which people try to sneak in even though they are driven to do so because of poverty or war-like situation in their home lands. Such a phenomenon has hit Europe lately.

 

However, it is not at all my intention to underplay or wish away Nepal’s human trafficking problem. But a

correct and authentic context will enable us to analyze the malady better and also work towards workable solutions. To this end, let’s get some facts clear.  

 

Almost all countries on the planet are affected by trafficking, either as source, transit or destination centers.

Trafficked individuals travel from 127 countries and are exploited in 137 countries in all continents. At any given time, 2.5 million people are trapped in forced labor. Of these, 1.2 million are children, according to International Labour Union. 

 

The approximate value of human trafficking is US $32 billion annually, just behind global drug trafficking. Shockingly, about 49 percent of this (US $15.5 billion) is generated in industrialized countries. So it is the advanced and industrialized countries that are the biggest beneficiary of this inhuman and obnoxious game. They avail the services of these cheaply available victims. Trafficking humans is easier than trafficking illegal drugs, arms and weapons. No wonder, revenue generated by trading humans is set to overtake the filthy bounty earned by notorious and dreaded drug mafias by 2020. 

 

Human traffickers continue to flourish because of the low risk and high profit factor. Prosecution and its data are tough to come by because of the “social” nature of this crime. Most prosecutions relate to sex trade-related human trafficking and very few are linked to trafficking for forced labor. It is clear that profit is the driving factor. Cheap and servile labor keeps industrial and farm sectors in advanced countries humming.

 

The human trafficking cycle consists of four components: (1) product—the vulnerable individual; (2) buyer—employer/exploiter; (3) seller—trafficker; and (4) consumer, also called the second group of consumers—the users of services of trafficked individuals, thus pushing up the demand.

 

So what is the way out? Poverty cannot be wiped out overnight. Developing countries will, therefore, continue to serve as steady sources for avaricious human traffickers. If we cannot curb supply, then should we not try to arrest the demand? Should we not appeal to the conscience of the advanced nations to stop exploiting the misery of the poor for power and pelf? Will the “advanced” West get down from its moral pedestal and start practicing what it preaches?

 

Sweden has shown the way. It prosecutes men who buy sexual services, not pimps. Women sex workers are treated as victims. As a result, prostitution is down, market price for girls has decreased and profits for traffickers have plunged. Eventually, trafficking of women to Sweden has been drastically reduced. Indonesia has had similar success in shutting down prominent brothels. The trick lies in increasing the costs for traffickers and decreasing the benefits. 

 

Dry up the demand first. Then put human resource vulnerable to trafficking to best possible use. That will be a good beginning.