06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Trafficking in children and women ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20045]

"Trafficking of children into domestic servitude and sweatshops remained a problem. States in the northeast region (Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim), and Bihar served as main sources points for domestic servants in Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and to a certain extent to Bangalore. The increasing number of domestic servant recruitment agents suggested that large trafficking networks operated in the region. In many cases women and girls were first brought by the agents through local transportation to Siliguri; then they traveled to different destinations with the traffickers. Often traffickers used truck drivers to carry women and girls from the northeast through National Highway 31, which connected the region to the central part of the country.  A survey by INTUC, the trade union wing of the Congress Party, noted that the trends in trafficking can be determined by monitoring the reports of "missing girls" filed by parents in the northeast states. The report stated that 40 percent of the police officials interviewed were unaware of the growing trade in women and children. The media reported that nearly every third house in the poorest districts of Jharkhand had a child who left home in search of food and work and may have been a potential victim of trafficking.  Traffickers usually targeted minors and Dalit women. A study prepared by Bhoomika Vihar, an NGO from Bihar, said that out of the 173 identified cases of women who had become victims of the sex trade, 85 percent were minors, and half were Dalits. The report claimed that trafficking, although not often reported, occurred almost everywhere. Pangsa and Dimapur in Nagaland and Moreh in Manipur were the major trans-border transit and demand centers. Women and children from Assam and Bangladesh were trafficked to Moreh and were moved from there to Burma and other Southeast Asian countries. The conflicts in the north-eastern states made women and children highly vulnerable.  Global Organization for Life Development (GOLD), an NGO working in Assam to combat trafficking and HIV/AIDS, said that there was usually an upsurge in trafficking of girls during natural disasters.  "

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06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Rate of trafficking convictions low; plans of rescuing trafficked victims ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20047]

"Although arrests and prosecutions under the ITPA increased slightly, the rate of trafficking convictions remained low, and collection of law enforcement data was difficult. Collection was difficult because there is no national system of collecting arrest information under the ITPA, and many police officials preferred to use India Penal Code (IPC) provisions to arrest traffickers because they claimed to have more success in getting convictions. However, since April the Kolkata police and NGOs, such as IJM, obtained convictions in two cases.

NGOs alleged that corruption at the enforcement level helped perpetuate trafficking.
 NGOs knowledgeable about the trafficking situation frequently identified traffickers and the locations of girls being held captive by brothel owners. However, other NGOs were reluctant to trust police with this information, due to their past conduct in brothel raids and the likelihood that many trafficking victims would be arrested and re-victimized rather than assisted by such raids. Several NGOs had significant successes, however, in working with police to target brothels with children.
The increase in the number of cases under section five of the ITPA in Tamil Nadu in 2005 is indicative of better enforcement against traffickers in that state. Under section five, a trafficker working only on trafficking for sexual exploitation is still considered a criminal offender. For example, 109 cases were booked against traffickers, brothel owners and pimps in 2005 while 148 women victims were rescued. Police reported that the cases were in various stages of investigation.
 In recent years sex rackets flourished under the guise of massage therapy and dance bars. Advertisements appeared in the media about the availability of female masseurs. In late July Chennai police investigated four massage parlors and arrested 16 persons. Some rescued women had been trafficked from Kerala. The arrestees released on bail awaited trial.
 In July 2005 the Maharashtra State Assembly adopted a bill banning dance bars. Starting from August 2005, the ban was implemented across Maharashtra. However, on April 12, a Maharashtra state high court ruled the ban unconstitutional and gave the state eight weeks to file its case with the Supreme Court. At year's end the case was underway in the Supreme Court. In recent years, traffickers began favoring these bars as a venue in which to engage in trafficking, instead of the more blatant brothel-based model. However, the government's implementation of this order without a rehabilitation plan caused displacement of women, forcing many to enter direct prostitution in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, and other major trafficking destinations. 
 In July the Ministry of Women and Child Development implemented plans for rescuing trafficked victims in consultation with NGOs and state governments. The program included two main features: preventive activities through awareness generation programs, such as peer education, rallies, campaign, posters, booklets, and street plays; and the rescue and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, counseling, legal aid, medical care, repatriation and restoration.
"

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06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Human trafficking to Gulf States ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20048]

"Girls and women were trafficked to the Persian Gulf states to work as domestic workers or for commercial sexual exploitation.
 Agents recruited mainly men from the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu for work in the Middle East, where many faced conditions of involuntary servitude. Sources reported that most of the victimized men paid the recruiters $2,000 (Rs 88,200) or more in fees. Once in the Gulf the recruits were forced to work long hours for little pay in conditions different from those described in the original contract to repay their debts.
 "

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06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Government's actions against trafficking of persons ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20049]

"The Home Ministry and the Bureau of Police and Research Development (BPRD) began a law enforcement training program, considered a significant achievement by NGOs, to sensitize police and improve trafficking arrests and convictions.  In November 2005 the Home Ministry organized a significant conference with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to raise awareness of human trafficking and to state, for the first time, their commitment to addressing this issue with resources and manpower. In September the Ministry of Home Affairs established a nodal cell responsible for collecting and analyzing the data related to trafficking from the state governments and union territory administrations; identifying problem areas and analyzing causes for their being source, transit, and destination areas; monitoring action taken to combat the crime; and organizing co-ordination meetings with the Nodal police officers of states and union territories.  "

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22.03.2006 - Source: BBC News

Agreement between top investigative agencies of India and Pakistan to cooperate on human trafficking, illegal immigration and counterfeiting ("Rivals focus on criminal issues") [#47116],  [ID 8094]

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22.03.2006 - Source: BBC News

6-year old girl accused in a criminal case of attacking policemen ("India's six-year-old 'criminal' girl") [#47120],  [ID 8095]

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08.06.2004 - Source: BBC News

Parliament closed after protests by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition demanding that the new government sack RJD ministers it deems unfit for office ("Protests close Indian parliament") [#23177],  [ID 8096]

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25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003 ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 8097]

"[...]Criminal gangs in all four southern states were known to attack rivals and deny free access to justice. In some cases, accused persons were attacked while being escorted by police to the courts. [...]"

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24.02.2004 - Source: BBC News

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended DP Yadav, a member with alleged criminal links ("BJP drops MP over criminal links") [#19664],  [ID 8098]

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30.01.2004 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

Bihar: 2 land rights activists killed by a group of heavily armed men, suspected to be members of a local gang ("Two Land Rights Activists Murdered in India [Case IND 300104.ESCR]") [#19097],  [ID 8099]

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27.10.2003 - Source: BBC News

State of Jharkhand: 3 Japanese Buddhist monks and a nun beaten and robbed by suspected bandits ("Japanese Buddhists attacked in India") [#17113],  [ID 8100]

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27.10.2003 - Source: BBC News

State of Jharkhand: 3 Japanese Buddhist monks and a nun beaten and robbed by suspected bandits ("Japanese Buddhists attacked in India") [#17113],  [ID 8102]

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22.10.2003 - Source: BBC News

The leading Indian pop singer, Daler Mehndi, faces charges relating to the trafficking of illegal immigrants ("Indian singer faces trafficking charge") [#17015],  [ID 8101]

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02.2003 - Source: Asylum Aid

Report on domestic violence against women in India, Albania, China, Colombia and Kosovo (country background, legal framework, protection, situation of separated or divorced women, human trafficking, access to health service, minorities) ("Refugee Women and Domestic Violence") [#49019],  [ID 8103]

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