HORRORS OF CHILD TRAFFICKING

   Children are the most vulnerable targets for the criminal gangs and mafias who use them for cheap labor, as pushers and sellers in the field of narcotic substances and as sources of commercialized sexual exploitation. In most of the instances where children go missing, no FIRs are even registered until a specific crime under IPC or Juvenile Justice Act is alleged or revealed which makes it easier for traffickers to continue the offence.

In 2013 May in two bizarre incidents, 589 children aged between 3 and 16 were found traveling in a train from Northern States of the Country to Palakkad District in Kerala without any tickets. The first batch of 466 children from Bihar and Jharkhand came by the Patna-Ernakulam Express; the second batch of 123 children came from West Bengal by the Guwahati-Thiruvananthapuram Express. They were accompanied by four men who had taken tickets for themselves. The matter was reported by Railway Authorities to the Police who intimated the Child Welfare Committee in Palakkad.

I was Additional Director General of Police in charge of Special Services & Traffic that time. Special Services meant protection Women & Children in distress. I proceeded to the place and conducted a detailed enquiry. My enquiries revealed that the children were transported to two orphanages- Mohammed Abdul Rahman Memorial Muslim Orphanage in Mukkam, Kozhikkode District and Vettathur Anwarul Orphanage in Malappuram District. Buses arranged from these orphanages carried the children and the authorities from the concerned orphanages remitted the ticket fee and penalties at the Railway office for ticketless traveling of the children.

The children were from Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. There were 156 girls in the group and the youngest of them was aged 3. The youngest boy was aged 4 and eldest, 15. Enquiries conducted at these orphanages revealed that such instances of child trafficking were happening since the year 2000 and children were transported from North Indian States to Kerala apparently for the purpose of education and accommodation to the poor children who could not afford them in their home States.

The orphanages also run private aided schools which get funds from Government. It was revealed that one reason behind transportation of children to the state was to prevent the 'division fall' due to shortage of students in these schools. Although the children are not taught there, their names will be included in the list of students. The children were not given any formal education since they do not understand either Malayalam or English but were taught classes in the holy Quran at these orphanages although not all the children transported were from Muslim community.

Another reason was that shortage of inmates in the orphanage had adversely affected collection of funds as contributions are government grants aids, from local sources and from abroad. They get Rs 100/- per day for each inmate from the Social Welfare Department and also get huge donations from abroad, especially the Gulf Countries. None of the children were orphans and they all had living parents and some of the parents signed forms giving permission to the above orphanages to transport the children. The two private Muslim Orphanages were owned by persons having strong political influence.

No proper records of children brought from other States were available in these institutions and whereabouts of children transported earlier were not known on enquiry. These orphanages had recruited the four persons who were found with the children and they function as agents in North Indian States to canvass for children in poor families. The orphanages were exempted from formal registration by a notification of the Kerala Government and hence had no rules, by-laws or procedures are in existence. Neither were they bound under the provisions of Juvenile Justice Act for the safety and protection of children.

Although the orphanages and the Government refused to see any crime in this, on my report, two crime cases were registered at the Railway Police Station, Palakkad which are still under investigation by CBCID Kerala. Three of the four agents as well as two employees of these orphanages were arrested by the police and the fourth agent is still absconding. There was a plea at the High Court of Kerala to transfer this case to CBI considering its sensitive nature and implications across the different States in the Country, but no specific orders were issued by the High Court on this so far. The PIL was filed at the High Court by Rajendra Prasad, president of 'Thampu', an NGO in Kerala.

 Orphanages in Kerala employ agents who open office in poor areas in the Northern States to ‘recruit orphans’ to the orphanages. In Godda in Jharkhand and Malda in West Bengal, such offices were started as ‘orphan recruiting offices’. The agents get paid based monthly remuneration and incentives based on the number of orphans they recruit. Some parents have admitted that the agents gave Rs 1000 for each child while some parents claimed they gave money to the agents for taking their child to good institutions in Kerala. The parents were made to believe that children will be taken to Kerala for giving them good education, accommodation, food and subsequent employment and they had no idea that they were taken to orphanages. The agents obtained signature from some parents in a form as proof that it was with their consent that children were brought to Kerala. Police found that these forms as well as forms they produced as ‘No-objection’ from the concerned Panchayats for taking away the children were forged and the handwriting and signatures were found to be the same in all the forms. Also, the names of schools which were mentioned in the forms were of fictitious and non-existing educational institutions in Kerala.

   

The parents of these children were under the impression that it was for proper education and good nutrition that the children are taken away from their houses and they would become doctors or engineers in future! Since the orphanages do not keep any records of children, there is no evidence to find out what actually happen to the children, especially those children who were brought there earlier at these orphanages. There were allegations and speculations that the boys were given sold and used in factories and companies as sources of cheap labor and the girls were taken for sex trafficking at tourism centers/ massage parlors.  The authorities at the orphanage claim that those children who completed their education went back to their villages. But further enquiries could not be conducted to verify this since names and addresses of the children were not available at these orphanages.

Strangely, there were some hue and cry when FIRs were registered and many said it was unfair that the humane acts by these orphanages to give free education, boarding and lodging by these institutions was dubbed as trafficking of children. Strange too, was the response from Government at the High Court when they supported the orphanages and stated that the children were brought as a charitable act and it was neither a crime nor a case of trafficking. The High Court however refused to accept this plea and ordered the children to be transported back to their homes in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and further ordered sustained investigation into the cases by CBCID.

Some questions are quite relevant here.

1.     Is there an acute shortage of orphans in Kerala that these orphanages have to bring non-orphan children from States in North India for their sustenance? Aren’t there any established systems in those States to take care of poor children?

2.     If these kids are not admitted in any schools, what sort of education are they given? Especially when they cannot understand either Malayalam or English? Did the parents send their children for madrassa education alone?

3.     Why are children with parents deemed as orphans and taken to orphanages? Was it for charity or just for financial benefits?

4.     Why are these orphanages exempted from the control of Child Rights Committees and Social Welfare Department and not registered under Juvenile Justice Act section 34(3)?

5.     Since these orphanages and most of the children brought from Northern States are from a certain specific community, was the purpose of transporting them to teach them religion and holy verses akin to madrassa education alone?

6.     What happen to children who reach above the age of 18 at these orphanages? Are they sent back to their homes or sold as cheap labor? Are the girls trafficked for sexual crimes?

7.     Why are girls aged from 3 upwards too brought from Northern States to the orphanages? Especially when madrassa education is reserved for only boys? Are they used as domestic help, in the kitchen or trafficked?

8.     Have the agents obtained permission from the concerned State authorities for transporting children from that State to orphanages in Kerala?

9.     Is there any auditing done on these orphanages to verify their claims of money from Government and other sources and whether proper care is given to the children? Also whether there are proper records maintained for each child?

The questions above may all be hopefully answered by the Investigating Officer of the crime cases, which may prevent such instances from happening again in the future.

Sadly, despite police action in the above two cases, instances like this continue to occur in Kerala. In June 2014, 23 minor boys were rescued by Police from Jamaliya Arabic College, in Kottiyam, Kerala following an allegation of human trafficking. This Institution did not provide any elementary education but instead taught children the Quran. This private and non-registered institute-cum-shelter was closed down by the police that month itself. Acting on a tip off, police had rescued the children and shifted them to a government juvenile home. The college was found bringing boys from Jharkhand to give Quran classes since 2009 and had taken children from other States in several batches. The police do not have any clear information on where these children went after their life at this college since no register was maintained at this place too. The investigating officer said the lessons were in Arabic but a teacher from Jharkhand would translate and clear the children’s doubts. The teacher, Abdul Mohazil, was among the three arrested, along with college treasurers Thajudeen and Bashir. Navas Rasheed, who owns the institute, is still at large.

Last month witnessed another incident where 57 boys from Bihar and Assam were found traveling to an orphanage in Malappuram District, Kerala accompanied by two men. The police have already started enquiring into this incident. But the big question remains- what is the motive of this mass transportation of children to Kerala? Money is of course one reason since Government grant is available for these institutions based on the number of inmates. For aid from abroad too, the list of inmates with their photographs are needed. But if it is just for money that the children are transported from the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam, then it is just an irregularity and not trafficking in the strict sense.

 These institutions are not monitored or under control by any agency, so they can do anything to these children. Even if they are sold off in the nearby areas for manual bonded labor or even used for organ transplant, no one will ask any questions since they do not fetch any votes for anyone. The minor boys and girls within the four walls of the orphanage in a strange land where no one can understand their language can be exploited and no one will know about it.

While it is always better to reduce red tapes in governance, it is advisable to insist on thicker and tougher red tapes where children and their rights are concerned. After all, the future of our Country is vested in their tiny hands and it is our duty to see that they are not exploited or misused.