Human rights groups believe that more than 150,000 people are known to be trafficked from South Asian countries to West Asia every year.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed soon with the United Arabic Emirates (UAE) to curb human trafficking. Human rights groups believe that more than 150,000 people are known to be trafficked from South Asian countries to West Asia every year. Activists, say since the trade is underground, the real number could be much higher. Traffickers or 'agents' often take advantage of poor communities, luring victims from villages with promises of good jobs and a better life in the cities.
According to the Cabinet note, the MoU with the UAE will also put checks on the migrant workers in UAE subjected to forced labour as well as sex trafficking and unlawful withholding of their passports, threats, non-payment of wages, physical abuse and restrictions on movement. Migrant workers comprise over 95% of the UAE's private sector workforce, coming from not only India but from Iran, East, South and Southeast Asia, Ethiopia and Eritrea and complaints of their harassment are many.
Women from some of these countries travel willingly to the UAE to work as domestic workers, secretaries, beauticians and hotel cleaners, but some are subjected to forced labour by unlawful withholding of their passports, restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, threats and physical or sexual abuse.
The MoU to be signed with UAE, on the lines of similar MoUs signed earlier with Bahrain and Bangladesh, will help in joint probe and coordinated response to the challenges of human trafficking, officials said.
The salient features of the MoU are:
1. To strengthen cooperation to prevent all forms of human trafficking, especially that of women and children and to ensure speedy investigation and prosecution of traffickers and organised crime syndicates in either country.
2. Taking preventive measures that would eliminate human trafficking in women and children and in protecting the rights of victims of trafficking.
3. Anti-trafficking Cells and Task Forces will work on both sides to prevent human trafficking.
4. Police and other concerned authorities will work in close cooperation and exchange information which can be used to interdict human traffickers.
5. The repatriation of victims would be done as expeditiously as possible and the home country will undertake the safe and effective re-integration of the victims.
6. A Joint Task Force with representatives from both sides would be constituted to monitor the working of the MoU.
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