How to combat trafficking
Human rights lawyer Ashley Varghese was one of the people with a vision to begin Oasis India's SACMEP (South Asia Centre for Missing and Exploited Persons) project. He talks about his hopes for the project and the importance of everyone doing something to end human trafficking.
Why is trafficking such a big problem in South Asia?
Trafficking is a growing problem in south Asia largely because traffickers are finding it easier to traffic children from areas in Nepal and rural locations in India into various destinations across south Asia. From the time we started working it has gone from being a city based country problem to being a global problem. Trafficking is a growing problem in south Asia and around the world.
What is the main aim of SACMEP and why was there a need to set it up?
The main aim of SACMEP is to try and rescue a child before they can be sold into any form of slavery. It also increases efforts to trace, rescue and reintegrate victims, prosecute traffickers and ensure that the victims are safe.
The traffickers had grown accustomed to all the previous strategies to combat trafficking. They had also grown global in their outlook. So it was necessary for us to develop a holistic strategy to keep pace with the organized crime of human trafficking.
Why is it so important to rescue them before they get sold?
The rehabilitation of the child if they are rescued before they are sold is much better because they are not raped, they are not abused, no violence has been meted out to them. Having said that we are committed to rescuing women and children who have already been sold as well.
How do you feel when you rescue a child?
There is always tremendous joy and happiness when we are able to rescue a child. Better if it is before sale but even if it is after sale it is always a joy to set a person free from slavery.
There is a greater joy when we see that child rehabilitated and when a child is able to testify against the perpetrators and bring the perpetrators to justice. It is a great joy to see how this impacts the city, how it impacts the police, how it impacts the courts, how it brings about systematic change so that the problem of trafficking is dealt with and hopefully in the coming years comes to an end.
You are working in such a horrific field, how do you keep going?
We are constantly encouraged by stories of the victim’s courage. Despite the hell that they have faced they have shown tremendous courage, not only moving on in life but also testifying against the perpetrators – ensuring that justice is done and ensuring future victims are not trafficked.
When you see so much courage by the victims, when you see the fruits of the work in more and more victims rescued, places where such hideous crimes happen shut down, more and more perpetrators put in jail it is very encouraging and so it helps us to go on.
What are your hopes for SACMEP?
I hope that SACMEP at the end of three years truly becomes a regional strategy. That we create more awareness on this issue. My hope is that SACMEP will be able to lobby for various policy issues. I actually believe that SACMEP can then be taken to a global initiative and it can be an instrument to link up various governments to work together to end human trafficking.
What can the average person do who reads about trafficking and wants to do something?
We welcome them to come in groups and see the work for themselves, to see if they are called to do this work, in south Asia or around the world. We would be happy to train such people. We would be happy for such people, if they are in positions with the media, with the government, in communications, we would be happy for them to extend their expertise, come as volunteers, and help SACMEP in many of these areas where we need help. We need resources to keep this going so they could even support us; an accountable support where they actually see where their money is going.
SACMEP would be happy to develop this strategy in other parts of the world as well.
I think the most powerful thing is for the common man to do something when they see a situation of trafficking. That something could be just a phone call tipping off the police or a non governmental organization that trafficking is happening. That something could be alerting a local constable that this child is vulnerable, or seeing a runaway child and making sure that child is put in safe custody.
It is because the common man chooses to do nothing that fuels trafficking. If we all start doing something about it then we can end this issue.
Learn more about Oasis India's anti-trafficking work
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