How Corona Is Triggering Cases Of Child Trafficking

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl from West Bengal has been missing since an unknown person befriended her on Facebook. The investigating team and the anti-trafficking unit working in the area believe that she has been lured by a trafficker to send her to Delhi, which is the ultimate destination for trafficked children.

- Chayyanika Nigam and Indrajit Kundu

Last week, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) rescued nine child labourers working at several scrap shops in North East Delhi’s Mustafabad. About 30 children allegedly escaped during the raid a fourth such operation undertaken by the commission to rescue child labourers during the pandemic.

A possible boom in trafficking of minor children is worrying the agencies as Delhi-NCR has reportedly become a hub of the trafficked kids. Traffickers often exploit the vulnerability of people by making false promises of a new job, better income, better living conditions and support to their families.

“International Labour Organisation (ILO) has predicted that with COVID-19 pandemic, the world may witness an increase in child labour for the first time in 20 years, thus, there is a risk of reverting years of progress in this arena, the statement issued by DCPCR said.

In June, a petition filed in the Supreme Court by Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO headed by Nobel Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi said the opening of the lockdown would see a massive spurt in the cases of child trafficking.