The trafficking of women and girls to foreign countries for sexual exploitation has been a long-standing stain on Nepali society. Despite efforts from the government and the many non-governmental organizations, trafficking in persons continues to thrive.

Nearly 13,000 persons were trafficked in the fiscal year 2012/13, according to the National Human Rights Commission. Now, an investigation by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed that 6,000 to 8,000 Nepali women between the ages of 20 to 30 years had been trafficked to Dubai via Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport until December 2014 for prostitution purposes.

CBI has pointed to the presence of a highly organized transnational syndicate which traffics the young girls. The modus operandi of this syndicate includes providing these girls with tourist visas to Nairobi via Dubai, but cancelling all trips further upon reaching the Gulf emirate. CBI has alerted India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Home Ministry, Nepali authorities, and Interpol to the presence of this prostitute racket.   

With the exponential rise of migration to the Gulf and East Asia for work, the trafficking of persons has changed to exploit air travel and the immigration loopholes. While previously, Nepali girls and women were mostly trafficked to India via the open border, globalisation has now opened up wider frontiers for trafficking, including the Middle East, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and even as far as Sweden.

Lured to foreign lands under the pretence of gainful employment with large salaries, these women are forced into prostitution and adult entertainment activities when they reach their destinations. The victims are first picked up by local agents, who are often family members, relatives, and trusted people. These agents then hand over the women to transnational trafficking rings, consisting of organized rackets of international criminals, who then transport the women across borders, increasingly by air.

The CBI’s investigation revealing legitimate paperwork for the women being trafficked points to an increase in sophistication, as previously such women would often be arrested en route for carrying false paperwork. It also reveals the involvement of overseas employment agencies and possibly, corrupt bureaucrats.

Domestically, there have been significant efforts to prevent trafficking, even if they have not been adequate. In the past year alone, the women’s cell of the Nepal Police conducted 144 sex and labor trafficking investigations in the 2012/13 fiscal year, according to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons 2014 report. In the same period, the Office of the Attorney General prosecuted 375 defendants, of which 119 traffickers were convicted. Since trafficking has become closely entwined with migration, increased vigilance on manpower companies and points of egress could help.

However, since a vast majority of convictions concern transnational sex trafficking, Nepal must work with other countries in the region and beyond while shoring up its own defences. Since India is a major transit point, Nepal Police must work closely with police and intelligence in the region and beyond to pursue transnational syndicates.

Published on: 9 January 2015 | The Kathmandu Post