Human traffickers aid influx

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Human traffickers aid influx

KATHMANDU, Nov 6 – Trafficking of girls and children from the neighbouring

country by organised gangs to India has added a new dimension to the unabated

illegal influx from Bangladesh. A study commissioned by Dhaka-based Bangladesh

National Lawyers Association (BNLA) has thrown light on a different aspect of

the problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh – that of trafficking of

women mainly for prostitution. The study revealed that there was extensive

trafficking from Bangladesh, primarily to India and Pakistan, largely for forced

prostitution.

The border between India and Bangladesh is porous, especially around Jessore and

Benapole, making illegal border crossing easy, the study said.

Various studies have shown involvement of organised gangs. Organised rings are

taking girls from poorer areas of Bangladesh to big cities for sex work..

The girls between the ages of 10 to 12 fetch the highest price. Fear of HIV and

AIDS has increased the demand for virgin children, the study said.

There are an estimated 56 million children in Bangladesh. About 50 per cent of

the population of Bangladesh are female making the male-female ratio 106:100

(1991 census).

A meeting of South Asia Regional Conference of Media and Legal Professionals on

Violence against Women, Trafficking and HIV & AIDS, meanwhile, strongly

advocated beefing up of surveillance along the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Nepal

Border, and raising of task forces to check trafficking.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=nov0708/at08