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Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network

Human Trafficking

A Human Trafficker Walks Free as Families Mourn Migrants Lost at Sea
A Human Trafficker Walks Free as Families Mourn Migrants Lost at Sea The fate of seven Nepali youths who went missing in a boat accident in the Caribbean Sea nearly five years ago while traveling illegally to America (United States) remains unknown. Since no agency conducted a search, the families have even performed final rites by creating effigies out of kush (halfa grass).
Ghyangphedi-Kolkata Connection: Sisters Lost from a Village Found in the Same Brothel
Ghyangphedi-Kolkata Connection: Sisters Lost from a Village Found in the Same Brothel Rimaya is not the only one trafficked from Nepal to India for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, a total of 149 women and 20 girls and adolescents from Nuwakot were rescued from India during the five-year period from the fiscal year 2075/076 to 2081/082 (mid-2018 to mid-2025).
Aesthetic Deception: Human Smuggling in the Guise of Art in Nepal
Aesthetic Deception: Human Smuggling in the Guise of Art in Nepal Ashok Pyasi Rai, a former General Manager of the Cultural Corporation (also known as The National Theater), agrees that human smuggling happens when people pretend to be artists and use fake documents. He stated that he discovered people being sent abroad with false papers. "I knew about this even before I became General Manager of the Cultural Corporation, or while I was there," he said. "I also found that artists themselves create fake documents." Rai recalled being shocked when he discovered that his signature had been forged and his office's official letterhead used wrongly many times.
How Poverty Becomes a Pathway to Trafficking
How Poverty Becomes a Pathway to Trafficking Sunita, Rita, and Punam have one thing in common. They come from poor families and were going to India in search of employment. Thanks to the efforts of Maiti Nepal and Shanti Punasthapana Griha, the agencies that monitor people at risk of human trafficking, they were rescued. Numerous organizations are actively working to rescue girls vulnerable to trafficking from the southern border regions of Nepal. According to Keshav Koirala, the Banke district coordinator for Maiti Nepal, girls similar to Sunita and Rita are rescued from the Nepalgunj border area daily.
Betrayed by Blood: How Relatives Lure Teens into Trafficking
Betrayed by Blood: How Relatives Lure Teens into Trafficking Dixya was taken across the border through the Tanakpur border crossing between Nepal and India. Being only 14 years old, Dixya was underage, and Saraswati presented someone else's birth certificate to facilitate their crossing. "The police asked me my name. But before I could answer, Saraswati produced another person's birth certificate and stated that individual's name. She also gave a false name for my father, and I was transported to India," Dixya recounted.
Indifference to Child Trafficking: No Interest in Child Protection
Indifference to Child Trafficking: No Interest in Child Protection After the country adopted federalism, the district-level Women and Children's Offices and the District Child Welfare Committees were dissolved. In the past, these offices used to monitor children's homes and create mechanisms to prevent illegal trafficking, among other tasks. With the dissolution of these offices, the Local Government Operation Act, 2074, entrusted the responsibility of protecting children to the local levels (municipalities).
Girls From the Freed Haliya-Kamaiya Community in Peril of Exploitation and Trafficking
Girls From the Freed Haliya-Kamaiya Community in Peril of Exploitation and Trafficking Known as Khuna Basti, the individuals from the Haliya community residing here sustain their families and manage household expenses primarily through wage labor. Thirty families, totaling 251 individuals, reside in thirty shelters here. While there are 124 women in this settlement, the number of adolescents appears to be low. Guardians report that most adolescents from these families have gone to India to earn an income. Although parents say they have gone to earn a living, the adolescent girls who have gone to India are found to be at risk of human trafficking and exploitation.
Gulf States Fail to Protect Female Domestic Workers Despite Reform Pledges
Gulf States Fail to Protect Female Domestic Workers Despite Reform Pledges On April 2, 2017, the International Relations and Labor Committee of Nepal's then legislative parliament had instructed the government to refrain from sending workers to specific destination countries until clear laws concerning domestic helpers were established and a labor agreement was in place with Nepal. Subsequently, the government ceased sending women to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Nevertheless, women did not cease their pursuit of employment abroad; instead, they altered their travel routes.
Child Trafficking in Indian Monasteries: Violation of Child Rights
Child Trafficking in Indian Monasteries: Violation of Child Rights Despite this long-standing cross-border trafficking of children, not only is there a lack of proper legal provisions to prevent it, but even the existing laws are not being implemented. To the extent that the court itself has ruled that taking children to India for educational purposes does not constitute human trafficking or transportation.
Fighting a Foreign War: Who Are the “Russian Army Vloggers” from Nepal?
Fighting a Foreign War: Who Are the “Russian Army Vloggers” from Nepal? OFU X Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network (joint investigation) NIMJN
Forced Prostitution of Badi Girls: Laws Prohibit, Practice Continues
Forced Prostitution of Badi Girls: Laws Prohibit, Practice Continues Relatives and parents involved in the forced prostitution of Badi girls should have been subject to harsher punishment according to the law.
Are Badi in Nepal Robbed of Their Identity and Existence?
Are Badi in Nepal Robbed of Their Identity and Existence? In 2006, Badi people launched a historic movement with women taking to the streets in petticoats to demand their socio-economic rights.
Trafficking in Persons: How Nepali Women and Girls Are Trafficked to India to Perform in Orchestras
Trafficking in Persons: How Nepali Women and Girls Are Trafficked to India to Perform in Orchestras Orchestras are performed not only in cities across along the India border but also in rural areas of India. In those orchestras, often staged during weddings and cultural ceremonies, women are forced to wear short and revealing clothes and perform sensual dances.
Young Badi Girls Trafficked Into Prostitution
Young Badi Girls Trafficked Into Prostitution Badi girls are more prone to be pushed towards prostitution and sex trafficking at a young age. The situation is even worse when they are coerced, trafficked, or sold by their family members.
Behind the Locked Doors: Dark Secrets of Spas in Pokhara
Behind the Locked Doors: Dark Secrets of Spas in Pokhara Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007 defines the act of involving people in prostitution, for the purpose of gains or without, as an act of human trafficking. Some women who spoke to us admitted having sexual intercourse with the customers out of compulsion.
Passage to India: How Nepali Children Are Smuggled to Monasteries Across the Border to the South
Passage to India: How Nepali Children Are Smuggled to Monasteries Across the Border to the South In total, 18 boys from Marin, including Rajkumar, Mingmar, and Man Bahadur, were taken to India through the Malangwa border checkpoint in Sarlahi in Jestha, 2076 (June, 2019). Their own parents helped them cross the border.