MEGHALAYA:
Meghalaya Director General of Police LR Bishnoi, on March 31, said that human trafficking in Meghalaya can be attributed to socio-economic conditions, broken families, single motherhood, and mass unemployment.
Addressing a State-Level Conference on Anti-Human Trafficking in Shillong, the DGP said that two factors – push and pull, play a significant role in pushing an individual into this trap of being lured by agencies, groups or nexus.
“Such factors put young boys and girls under tremendous strain and they become vulnerable to human trafficking — to be lured and cheated on the pretext of jobs, careers etc,” he said.
Giving details about the push factors, he said, “The social, economic and political causes are the push factors. Economic causes are very simple; poverty, unemployment, lack of development, backwardness often make women and girls vulnerable to such acts.”
As for political factors, Bishnoi cited examples of persecuted communities such as Rogingyas, and others who, through migration, fall into such traps.
On the other hand, giving details about the pull factors, Bishnoi said that job opportunities also compel people to move out, and said, “People under the garb of job are taken from one place to another; for example in Punjab, youths are lured in the name of job opportunities in Canada, but later on, they realise they are cheated.”
Stating that big and powerful groups and individuals are often involved in running such trafficking business, Bishnoi pointed that many girls are taken to Mumbai and other major cities, on the pretext of modelling assignments and careers, but get pushed into sexual exploitation business.
“They have their organised network; they have a lot of financial power. As a whole, this is a very lucrative business wherein the victim is often made to succumb to such pressures,” he said.
Furthermore, the DGP stated that cracking such cases requires a lot of effort as many times local agencies are not scientifically equipped to pursue these cases vigorously till the action is proved because the victims are poor and belong to lower strata of society, and the people who indulge in trafficking belong to very powerful section of society.