Women trafficking: Booming business
Pramod Raj Sedhain
Are you or a female member of your family planning to go abroad in search of better prospect or a better work? If so, think carefully and think twice before you make such important decision. It has been found in recent years that most of the women who strive to go to foreign countries for employment find themselves being sold by human traffickers. Due to the Nepal-India open border, some agents find women-trafficking a profitable business these days. What appears is that, these agents happen to be crafty fellows, who deceive women of rural areas with their luring stories of how much money they can earn once they go abroad. Eventually several women fall prey to such false stories. Women surrender to men with high hopes and aspirations of going abroad where they believe their life becomes lot much easy.
The main route for women trafficking is the Indian border of Raksaul, from where they are sent to other cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Their fake passports to enter Gulf countries are made in these cities and the agents handover these women to Gulf agents, who are responsible for taking them to their final destination. The agents get handful of money for supplying women and their job ends there. And the dreams of those poor women get shattered when they finally realize that they have not taken as domestic workers but have been sold to some rich elites as sex workers.
Various NGOs have been working in border areas to stop these illegal activities of human flesh but the efforts are simply not enough, and there is a need of more intensive involvement from all sectors of society. Service Awareness Centre and Maiti Nepal are among many organizations involved in border cites to stop women trafficking. Both organizations claim that significant numbers of women have been saved from being sold in the past years. The data of Maiti Nepal says it has saved 232 women in 2008 and 172 women until the month of November alone. But the fact and figures are far smaller than the actual number of women who are trafficked each year. Several meetings between security officials of India and Nepal are held annually to tackle the issue but have so far proved ineffective and the government has failed to address the issue effectively.
There is no accurate statistics on number of women trafficked from Nepal. The country has Human Trafficking Act 2043 to tackle these illegal activities but the government finds itself in a difficult position to implement the act effectively. The then government had even registered the “Human Trafficking Act” on 10th Falgun 2058 BS. The government is well informed about the illegal activities but has done very little to enforce the law.
Daughters go cheaper in Ichok
Interestingly, one finds it difficult to see young girls above ten years in the village of Ichok, which is neatly eight-hour walk from Melamchi bazaar. This small village with Tamang majority lies in a complex geographical position and the people here live in hand-to-mouth situation. Life is hard and what they earn is hardly enough to feed their family for six months. But the bitter truth of this village is that parents here even do not step behind to think before they sell their own young daughters and wives in fulfilling their daily needs. And some men have been trying hard to change that scenario here.
Pasang Tamang has been working to stop local women from being sold since a decade. Those who saw him as a major obstruction in their mission even tried to assault him physically, but that did not stop him. Numbers of girls who spent their lives in household in the village left for what the villagers here call the “big city” Mumbai. Many of them have returned with AIDS or other STDs but the wave of going to the “big city” has not ended yet. They have rather switched over to Gulf States as their destination in recent years. The locals of the village say that the agents have rather started to traffic women in more organized and legal way. They now assist women to make passports and recruit them as domestic helpers for some Middle East countries. Till this date, 20-25 women flock everyday in District Administration Office to make passports. Political interference and protection to the women traffickers has made the situation even worse. It is believed that hundreds and thousands of women abroad are forced to work as sex labors and the consequences they face are beyond one’s imagination. But the government’s effort to stop women trafficking has not been sufficient. The unemployment, expensive life, high price of daily commodities, and the social imbalance due to 13-year long insurgency have forced many women to leave their home behind in quest of money. Although there are handful of organizations that work for rescuing women, lack of coordination between them has not been able to produce significant outcome. Ichok is just one example. Several remote villages of the country share similar stories and with the continuing poverty; this is not likely to stop anywhere soon.
Gulf countries lure Nepalese women
Data shows that about 150,000 women are sold every year in South Asia for forced prostitution. According to independent statistics from different sources, 5-7 thousands Nepali women are among those 150,000 women trafficked for prostitution annually. The survey of World Population Foundation says that more than 100,000 Nepali women have been trafficked to this date and the number is increasing by 10,000 each year. The survey shows among them 75% are generally unmarried girls, 20% married women, and the rest 5% are girls below the age of 15. Another separate study of International Labour Organization further reveals that more than 12,000 Nepali women are sold for prostitution every year. It is estimated that there are currently more than 200,000 Nepali women working in Indian brothels. Similarly, the listing of 26 districts of Nepal as maximum women trafficking region further demonstrates the dire situation. Ironically, the government has no official figure of women who have been rescued and returned back. Furthermore, reestablishing or rehabilitating them in the society has been yet another major challenge. As the agents have started to supply women to other countries, the number of Nepali women in Indian brothels has decreased by 20% in recent years. That is largely because of the hefty sum of money the agents receive from supplying women to other countries than to India. Sources say Nepali women are sold for as much as 75 thousand NRS in India while the agents could double their profit if they are able to supply women to other countries. This has created shortage of Nepali women in India and the price for them has once again soared up.
Experts say poverty, open cultures, and wars are major factors for increased women trafficking and that the problem is epidemic in all South Asian countries. It is clear to all that women trafficking have complex chained networks expanded in many countries. More women are at risk of being potential victims of human trafficking groups unless governments of all South Asian countries do not form common standards to fight the problems.
Mystery behind Kidney Smuggling
Pramod Raj Sedhain
It is believed that the network of kidney smugglers is huge in Nepal. The Indian smugglers are the key players behind kidney smuggling while mobilizing Nepali agents in the country. The agents have time and again gone to Nepali villages asking people to give kidney instead of money but few have been arrested. The villagers are usually taken to India by giving hopes that they could find good jobs. Some do it believing the words of agents while others do it simply for money. Violence has been used on them who refuse to take their kidneys and even to those who have given in consent. But the ignorant villagers who give their kidneys with consent usually do not get the amount of money promised. Besides, the insulting behavior by the agents on the victims after taking out the kidney, beyond words. The price of kidneys rises to 10 times the original price one it reaches to other countries. Several cases of kidney smuggling have come to limelight but the police and the administration have not much to say about it.It has been revealed that a kidney donor gets just a small faction of the money from the smugglers; the large sum goes in the pocket of agents. The kidney sellers are forced to return home with guilt and potential danger of diseases due to unhygienic operation while the smugglers and agents accumulate huge sum of money. It is said that Indian smugglers make NRS 700,000 from a single kidney while just investing NRS 100,000 to buy it. Smuggling of kidneys has not lessened even after the arrest of major Indian kidney smuggler Amit Kumar. He was involved in kidney smuggling in Nepal and is learnt that he had extensive network of agents in the country. But his extradition to India by Nepal Police without sufficient investigation is primarily responsible for continuation of the business by the local agents. A secret camera had earlier caught Amit Kumar saying that major area of his business was in Nepal. The video showed Amit Kumar asking NRS 1,500,000 to his Indian client for delivering kidney. Nepal Police said it is uninformed about the hospital that carryout such operations in Nepal. Ramesh Thapa, a local accomplice of Amit Kumar has fled since Amit’s arrest and the police have no information about his whereabouts. Without proper awareness, enforcement of strict laws and provision of compulsory recommendation to transplant organs, it is most likely that the vicious business of human organs will prosper more than ever.
Madhav Baral of Kavre sold one of his kidneys seven years ago to run his household. But that really did not help to serve his problems. He neither got the amount of money promised for giving his kidney nor the post-medical care after the operation. The agent told him earlier that he would be handed NRs 150,000 for his kidney but he just got NRS 45,000, lot lesser than he was promised. Not only that, the agent physically assaulted him, and returned him back together with the pain of his surgery. He told that the agent beat him severely upon asking for more money. Baral said he has difficulty in working after the operation and has started taking alcohol to ease his abdominal pain. Baral is one among many people who have been a brutal victim of organized human organ smuggling. Similarly, a man who underwent an accident and was taken to the hospital in unconscious state woke up to find one of his kidneys missing. If one believes to what he says, then it clearly illustrates the fact that even the Nepali hospitals and its doctors are some how associated with kidneys smugglers. The small amount of money they have got from selling their kidneys might be sufficient to pay some loans and run their household for sometime, but the psychological torture and physical pain they have received is likely to remain for a long period.
Who is Amit Kumar?
Amit Kumar, an international kidney smuggler, had his wide network in Nepal and India. His targeted victims were generally poor Nepali people whose kidneys were taken out in India to be sold in Australia. It is reported that his networks expanded to 60 countries worldwide. But his major operation center was Australia. Born in 1956 A.D. at Akola, India, Kumar ran a small clinic in Khar until 1980. He was reported to have made contacts with kidney smugglers after 1980s. He had already befriended some Nepali people by 1990 when he started investing in C grade movies. But he was caught by police in 1994 and was put behind bars for 5 months. He opened a hospital in Gurgaun of Hariyana after being released from the prison and started mobilizing agents for kidney smuggle in Nepal and India. He went to Canada after some years and came back to Gurgaun in 1999 again but when the police filed a case against him in 2003, he fled to Canada with his wife and children. The police had arrested him in 2000 and 2001 with allegations of kidney smuggling but was bailed out in both occasions due to lack of evidences. He did not stay there for long; Kumar came back to India for another time in 2007. It had been a while since the case had been filed against him. He might have thought the potential danger has passed and started his business of kidney smuggling once again. It is said that Kumar was sharp minded and that he would transfer his business to province where laws regulations were weak.
How was he caught?
Kumar came to Chitwan in 7th of February 2008 to stay in Hotel Wild Life Camp. The manager of the hotel Shankar Sainju had kept his eyes on him as it occurred to him that he had previously seen Kumar somewhere. Actually, he had seen him in a newspaper, where his news was published with his photo. Sainju recalled that Kumar was in a casual dress up with a blue jeans and a jacket. Hotel staff Maheshwor Regmi had assisted Kumar to take his luggage to his room and gave him a cup of coffee he had ordered. Kumar’s suspicious activity and nervous gesture had prompted the hotel staffs to call police. In a while, a team of Nepal Police raided Kumar’s room, took custody of him. The police also managed to claim cash worth 15 million dollars with different mobile cards of Canada, India, and Nepal from him. But to everyone’s surprise, Kumar was extradited to India after 2 days without further investigation. Sources within the police force said “although Interpol was in search of him and that it was justifiable to extradite him to Indian police, proper investigation should have been made in Nepal, as there were already numbers of charges against him inside the country.” His prompt extradition to India due to pressure from Indian Police had exposed the powerlessness of the government. India’s internal intelligence agency, Central Bureau of Investigation has made investigations in the case but has not revealed anything to Nepal police, which played a key role in capturing the most wanted criminal. The Indian government’s pressure to extradite Amit Kumar has left many hidden secrets of human organ smuggling in Nepal unanswered.
Pramod Raj Sedhain
It is believed that the network of kidney smugglers is huge in Nepal. The Indian smugglers are the key players behind kidney smuggling while mobilizing Nepali agents in the country. The agents have time and again gone to Nepali villages asking people to give kidney instead of money but few have been arrested. The villagers are usually taken to India by giving hopes that they could find good jobs. Some do it believing the words of agents while others do it simply for money. Violence has been used on them who refuse to take their kidneys and even to those who have given in consent. But the ignorant villagers who give their kidneys with consent usually do not get the amount of money promised. Besides, the insulting behavior by the agents on the victims after taking out the kidney, beyond words. The price of kidneys rises to 10 times the original price one it reaches to other countries. Several cases of kidney smuggling have come to limelight but the police and the administration have not much to say about it.It has been revealed that a kidney donor gets just a small faction of the money from the smugglers; the large sum goes in the pocket of agents. The kidney sellers are forced to return home with guilt and potential danger of diseases due to unhygienic operation while the smugglers and agents accumulate huge sum of money. It is said that Indian smugglers make NRS 700,000 from a single kidney while just investing NRS 100,000 to buy it. Smuggling of kidneys has not lessened even after the arrest of major Indian kidney smuggler Amit Kumar. He was involved in kidney smuggling in Nepal and is learnt that he had extensive network of agents in the country. But his extradition to India by Nepal Police without sufficient investigation is primarily responsible for continuation of the business by the local agents. A secret camera had earlier caught Amit Kumar saying that major area of his business was in Nepal. The video showed Amit Kumar asking NRS 1,500,000 to his Indian client for delivering kidney. Nepal Police said it is uninformed about the hospital that carryout such operations in Nepal. Ramesh Thapa, a local accomplice of Amit Kumar has fled since Amit’s arrest and the police have no information about his whereabouts. Without proper awareness, enforcement of strict laws and provision of compulsory recommendation to transplant organs, it is most likely that the vicious business of human organs will prosper more than ever.
Madhav Baral of Kavre sold one of his kidneys seven years ago to run his household. But that really did not help to serve his problems. He neither got the amount of money promised for giving his kidney nor the post-medical care after the operation. The agent told him earlier that he would be handed NRs 150,000 for his kidney but he just got NRS 45,000, lot lesser than he was promised. Not only that, the agent physically assaulted him, and returned him back together with the pain of his surgery. He told that the agent beat him severely upon asking for more money. Baral said he has difficulty in working after the operation and has started taking alcohol to ease his abdominal pain. Baral is one among many people who have been a brutal victim of organized human organ smuggling. Similarly, a man who underwent an accident and was taken to the hospital in unconscious state woke up to find one of his kidneys missing. If one believes to what he says, then it clearly illustrates the fact that even the Nepali hospitals and its doctors are some how associated with kidneys smugglers. The small amount of money they have got from selling their kidneys might be sufficient to pay some loans and run their household for sometime, but the psychological torture and physical pain they have received is likely to remain for a long period.
Who is Amit Kumar?
Amit Kumar, an international kidney smuggler, had his wide network in Nepal and India. His targeted victims were generally poor Nepali people whose kidneys were taken out in India to be sold in Australia. It is reported that his networks expanded to 60 countries worldwide. But his major operation center was Australia. Born in 1956 A.D. at Akola, India, Kumar ran a small clinic in Khar until 1980. He was reported to have made contacts with kidney smugglers after 1980s. He had already befriended some Nepali people by 1990 when he started investing in C grade movies. But he was caught by police in 1994 and was put behind bars for 5 months. He opened a hospital in Gurgaun of Hariyana after being released from the prison and started mobilizing agents for kidney smuggle in Nepal and India. He went to Canada after some years and came back to Gurgaun in 1999 again but when the police filed a case against him in 2003, he fled to Canada with his wife and children. The police had arrested him in 2000 and 2001 with allegations of kidney smuggling but was bailed out in both occasions due to lack of evidences. He did not stay there for long; Kumar came back to India for another time in 2007. It had been a while since the case had been filed against him. He might have thought the potential danger has passed and started his business of kidney smuggling once again. It is said that Kumar was sharp minded and that he would transfer his business to province where laws regulations were weak.
How was he caught?
Kumar came to Chitwan in 7th of February 2008 to stay in Hotel Wild Life Camp. The manager of the hotel Shankar Sainju had kept his eyes on him as it occurred to him that he had previously seen Kumar somewhere. Actually, he had seen him in a newspaper, where his news was published with his photo. Sainju recalled that Kumar was in a casual dress up with a blue jeans and a jacket. Hotel staff Maheshwor Regmi had assisted Kumar to take his luggage to his room and gave him a cup of coffee he had ordered. Kumar’s suspicious activity and nervous gesture had prompted the hotel staffs to call police. In a while, a team of Nepal Police raided Kumar’s room, took custody of him. The police also managed to claim cash worth 15 million dollars with different mobile cards of Canada, India, and Nepal from him. But to everyone’s surprise, Kumar was extradited to India after 2 days without further investigation. Sources within the police force said “although Interpol was in search of him and that it was justifiable to extradite him to Indian police, proper investigation should have been made in Nepal, as there were already numbers of charges against him inside the country.” His prompt extradition to India due to pressure from Indian Police had exposed the powerlessness of the government. India’s internal intelligence agency, Central Bureau of Investigation has made investigations in the case but has not revealed anything to Nepal police, which played a key role in capturing the most wanted criminal. The Indian government’s pressure to extradite Amit Kumar has left many hidden secrets of human organ smuggling in Nepal unanswered.
Maoist hit second phase protest
Pramod Raj Sedhain
The Unified
The general concept was that Maoists are accustomed to guns, bombs and ambush. However, Maoist's method of protest in their second phase of agitation shocked the people. Instead of demonstrating their anger, the Maoists sang and danced to the tunes of folk music on the streets.
The venue seemed like a wedding ceremony. The whole air was filled with music and melodious tunes. There were traditional musical instruments like drums, including maadal and damaha. Even onlookers enjoyed the show on the streets. Most interestingly, it was a ticket-free show. Spectators were young and old; men and women – yet they were merrymaking. More interesting part here was that some school students were busy eating lunch in one corner. An innocent-looking person who was standing nearby was bewildered. He asked what was happening. Pat came the reply from one of the audiences -- "This is a protest against the President's move...this is an agitation to establish civilian supremacy in the country."
Other than songs and dances, there were poems filled with sarcasm and there were parodies as well. But what were they doing in front of the district administration office? The answer is simple: Barring the employees to enter the office as part of their protest program. Vehicles were stranded. General public were seen taking different routes to reach to their destinations. There were hardships. However, Maoists cadres were singing to the tunes of their party leadership of civilian supremacy.
An old woman was trapped in the crowd. She was shouting but her voice went unheard. Our unit tried to catch the scene of the old woman. But some Maoist comrades shouted at out crew and threatened them to pack up. Our team was helpless before them. Vulnerable journalist defended themselves saying that they did not shoot the scene. There are more incidences. This is just an example!
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