NCJ Number
206390
Date Published
February 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper provides an overview of the nature, prevalence, and causes of human trafficking in India, followed by a review of existing measures to counter it and recommendations for policy that will improve countermeasures.
Abstract
Recently there have been many more reports of the smuggling of migrants from India, which indicates an emerging migrant smuggling infrastructure that involves Indian agents who recruit migrants, transporting them to Europe or North America, collecting fees from them, and perhaps providing them with jobs in the destination countries. The migrant smugglers, who are located in the Paharganj area of Delhi, generally charge $7,500 to $9,000 to smuggle an individual to Europe. Much of the demand for migration is fueled by large-scale poverty in many countries, where there are few jobs and those that do exist generally pay low wages. India is not only a source country for migration, it is also a transit country and a destination country, which makes the devising of countermeasures all the more difficult. The devising of countermeasures is also complicated by the fact that there are no solid data on the extent of trafficking, the determinants and processes of trafficking, and the needs of trafficked persons who return. There is a need to move from an agenda of rescue, rehabilitation, and deportation to an approach designed to protect and promote women's human rights in countries of origin and destination. This paper concludes with an outline of the 1997 European Union Hague Declaration on the Question of Trafficking in Women. Other international conventions pertinent to human trafficking are also mentioned.