Uttarakhand, the New Destination for Child Traffickers?

Bangalore: Uttarakhand was recently struck with the most unfortunate events as the hill town was flooded at all sides recording death toll of almost 10000 people.

The after effect of the disaster was worst as many lives were lost. Many lost their houses, family members and even parted with their near and dear ones.

Among all these, unclaimed children are most at risk as they are often the targeted ones for child trafficking, as reported by Hakeem Irfan  for DNA.

Many child rights activists are aware that post disaster is the best time for the child traffickers for trafficking those children who are left unattended by anyone. These traffickers reach the relief camps posing as a relief workers, thereby trafficking children.

The Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Kushal Singh stated that to prevent such kind of racket, a team will be dispatched to the affected areas to bring to the notice of the government to rehabilitate the children and also to protect all those children who are vulnerable. They also directed the state to enquire the people who are accompanying unrelated kids. But it is still a difficult task to identify all these imposters.

In some of the past natural disasters like the 2004 tsunami, the Kosi floods in 2008 and the cyclone that hit the Sunderbans a year later, relief camps were the most sought after place for the traffickers.

So, the founder of NGO Bachpan Bachao, Kailash Satyarthi said, “Children at relief camps end up in vicious networks of prostitution, begging and organ transplant”, reported DNA.

Satyarthi further stated that though Uttarakhand has three small children’s homes and eight observation homes to lodge juvenile criminals, it won’t be able to fully look after the unattended children.

Also Read: World's Worst Natural Calamities in the Last Century