India making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking: US

New York: India does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so, the US State Department said on Tuesday, recommending that the country should increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of all forms of trafficking, including bonded labour.

In The 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, released by the US State Department on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that everyone should be free. "And yet, through force, fraud, and coercion, human traffickers violate this most basic right.

"This year's report is released in the midst of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Russia's senseless continued invasion of Ukraine and its devastating attacks across that country have inflicted unfathomable pain and suffering and forced millions of Ukrainian citizens and others to flee seeking safety," Blinken said.

"We are deeply concerned about the risks of human trafficking faced by individuals internally displaced by the war, as well as those fleeing Ukraine, an estimated 90 per cent of whom are women and children. The food insecurity and other broader effects of Russia's war exacerbate trafficking risks around the globe.

On the situation in India, the report said that the "Government of India does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore India remained on Tier 2."

The report added that these efforts included identifying more trafficking victims, primarily victims of bonded and forced labour. It noted that states such as Maharashtra and Odisha provided funding to existing Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs), and Andhra Pradesh issued orders to establish additional AHTUs.

Indian law enforcement collaborated with foreign government officials from Bangladesh, the Gulf states, and Nigeria on trafficking investigations. In response to the trafficking risks associated with the pandemic, the government provided support and guidance to state governments to combat trafficking, and states including Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu held virtual trainings on human trafficking for officials, it said.

The report noted that the Indian government, however, did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. "Although law enforcement investigated more bonded labour crimes, anti-trafficking efforts against bonded labour remained inadequate. Twenty-two of India's 36 states and union territories did not report identifying any bonded labour victims or filing a case under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.

Further, the government conducted fewer investigations and prosecutions and achieved fewer convictions, with the acquittal rate for traffickers remaining at 89 percent. The government did not report investigating, prosecuting, or convicting government officials for alleged involvement in trafficking crimes.

"Efforts to audit government-run or -funded shelters remained inadequate, and shortcomings in protection services for victims, especially children, remained unaddressed. The government detained some foreign trafficking victims in state-run shelters for extended periods due to lengthy or non-existent repatriation processes, the report said. 

In its "prioritised recommendations", the report said the government should increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of all forms of trafficking, including bonded labour; investigate allegations of official complicity in human trafficking and sentence perpetrators to significant prison terms.

The report further noted that the Indian government maintained overall victim identification and protection efforts. 

In 2020, the government reported identifying 6,622 trafficking victims and 694 potential trafficking victims compared with 5,145 trafficking victims and 2,505 potential victims identified in 2019. 

In 2020, authorities identified 5,156 victims in labour trafficking, including 2,837 in bonded labour, and 1,466 in sex trafficking; authorities did not report the type of trafficking for the 694 potential victims. Nearly 99 per cent of trafficking victims identified were Indian; approximately 53 per cent were adults, and 47 per cent were children; and 59 per cent were female and 41 per cent were male.

The government also increased efforts to prevent human trafficking. The Ministry of Home Affairs and The Ministry of Women and Child Development continued to lead government anti-trafficking efforts; the MHA directed the national response to public safety issues while the MWCD managed prevention and reintegration aspects. 

In May 2021, the MHA issued an advisory instructing all states and union territories to provide support and assistance to groups considered vulnerable to human trafficking - including women, children, older persons, and members of marginalized groups - in response to the pandemic, it said.

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