5.

2 Interview with ABC Nepal

ABC Nepal is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Nepal that promotes
women's rights and fights human trafficking. It is one of the leading organizations working in the
field of anti-human trafficking interventions, having been founded in 1991. ABC Nepal's
combined efforts with those of other organizations have resulted in the creation and
implementation of various laws concerning women's rights and human trafficking.
Question: How your NGOs is helping in combating cross-border trafficking?
Durga Ghimire: ABC Nepal has worked to prevent women and children from being trafficked
by raising social awareness, particularly among rural communities, and undertaking border
surveillance and cross-border activities. In Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, and Biratnagar, ABC Nepal
has run rehabilitation centers for victims of human trafficking and abuse against women. ABC
Nepal has helped to promote awareness about the need of safe migration. The organization, for
example, kept an surveillances  on the Tribhuvan International Airport and set up help desk  in a
major border transit of Biratnagar, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj,etc.
Our surveillance team keeps on visiting the border checkpoints and we had also made so many
checkpoint in different villages that are near to Indian border and also at the border. We have a
scholarship for the rescued victims for their higher studies. Lots of challenges are there in this
work but we have well-trained staff and we are doing it well. We also work in the field of
advocacy and policymaking. We also go during the trial if any victims have against the owner or
any traffickers. There have been about 2500 children that have been rescued by ABC Nepal till
now.
After rescuing any individuals we also do the counseling of the girls and their parents also and
try to find out the reason behind it. For rehabilitation, we also provide skill development
programs according to the victim's interest and after that, we encourage them to do their own job
or work in that sector in which they got training from ABC Nepal. We have a number of skill
development centers and also shelter home for the girls
Question: Since you are working past 30 years in the field of combating cross-border trafficking
so what you analyzed is that the rate of trafficking is increasing or decreasing?
Answer: It is not easy to answer this question but in earlier human trafficking means girls
trafficking but nowadays it is human trafficking. From earlier to the present the dimension of
human trafficking has been changed. Earlier only for the sex, girls are trafficked but now small
children, boys, and men have also been trafficked for different types of work in different sectors.
At the present rate of labor, trafficking has been increasing more. Organ trafficking is also
increasing at an alarming rate and it is mostly in India for kidney trafficking. But I can say that
the number of Nepalese girls in Indian Brothels has been decreasing.
But due to changes in the dimensions of trafficking, everything is going in other ways like in
massage parlors, the supply of girls, dance club, etc have been increasing.
Question: As we all know that many organizations and civic societies are working in combating
cross-border trafficking but the result remains the same. So why the problem remains the same?
Answer: Only a few organizations are working in reality and on the ground level. But there is a
gap of coordination among the people who are working on this issue. An open border is also a
big change for us. Indian Government and Nepalese Government should work on the model of G
to G, it means that there should be a quick response in such types of cases. Other challenges are
most of the traffickers are hidden in India and due to lack of coordination with the government
and police department; we can’t able to trace them.
5.3 Interview with Shakti Samuha
Shakti Samuha is the world's first organization founded and administered entirely by human
trafficking survivors. Shakti Samuha has been fighting human trafficking informally since 1996,
but it wasn't until 2000 AD that it was officially registered and began operating legally.
1027 trafficking survivors have got the shelter support from Shakti Samuha till this date. Shakti
Samuha is running five shelter homes (three shelters in Kathmandu among them 1 is Transit
home, Women Rehabilitation Center in Sindhupalchowk and Emergency Shelter Home in Kaski)
for the trafficking survivors and the girls at the high risk of trafficking.
Shakti Samuha has fought to provide social justice for individuals who have been victims of
human trafficking or who are at high risk of becoming victims by empowering, educating, and
organizing women and girls at the community level since its inception. It has run a number of
programs and activities aimed at empowering the victims. This group has collaborated with a
variety of national and international organizations and networks to bring justice to people who
have been victims of human trafficking.
Question: How does your organization address the needs of migrants and those who have been
trafficked?
Sunita Gahatraj (Secretary of Shakti Samuha): We collaborate with a huge network of NGOs
and government agencies to locate trafficked Nepali women in other countries and assist them in
returning home. We promptly alert the Nepali embassy, police, or a service provider in that
nation when we get information about someone who may be trafficking. When they come upon a
trafficked Nepalese woman or girl, they contact us to arrange for her repatriation and treatment.
We also collaborate with local law enforcement to track down and apprehend human traffickers,
who in some cases pay for the women's repatriation to Nepal.
We have a shelter for trafficked women and girls in Nepal where they may stay till they
recuperate, and we give them with medical care, legal assistance, psychological counseling, and
we talk to them about their future plans and help them find jobs. If they desire to return to their
family, we undertake a risk assessment to ensure that it is safe to do so, and we also give family
counseling. We've also assisted in the formation of a number of self-organized group of
survivors in various parts of the nation, and we continue to support them.
Question: What is the present state of migration and human trafficking in our country - why do
individuals migrate, and what circumstances render them vulnerable to human trafficking and
other forms of exploitation?
Answer: The economic situation in our country is precarious; there are limited options for
people to work and earn a livelihood. Many peoples try to find  overseas jobs, but are
deceived by labor agencies and traffickers who offer them good positions and reasonable pay.
People are suddenly forced to labor long hours for little or no pay in deplorable conditions. Many
people are subjected to sexual harassment or physical abuse at work.
The majority of Nepalese move to India for employment, and it is here that they are trafficked.
However, in the Gulf area, as well as other nations such as South Africa and Thailand, we
observe many people who are exploited. The majority of the women and girls we help are
exploited in domestic or sex employment
Question: what are the challenges you are facing in combating cross border trafficking?
Answer: One of the biggest problems we are facing is that the returns of the rescued Nepalese
from India to Nepal. If any Nepalese is rescued in India then she has to be in homes of India.
Why did Nepalese keep in homes in India? The government of India should return those girls to
Nepal immediately but the reality is different. The process of return takes almost one to two
years. For that one to two years who will take care of the family’s members who are in Nepal.
This should be changed. Both countries' Governments should have some common law in case of
trafficking. Donors should also have to pay some attention to their funding. NGOs are sending
the data and donors are happy with that data. All the NGOs are showing their own data but what
about the Trafficking data of Nepal. No one has an answer. There is no authentic data of the
government of Nepal; this is the biggest problem because one trafficked victim can be counted
by many organizations.
5.4 Interview with Anti Human Trafficking Bureau, Nepal
As the number of occurrences of human trafficking has increased, the Nepal Police  has
established a specialized department to investigate and prevent the crime. Earlier, human
trafficking cases were dealt by the Central Investigation Bureau and the Women and Children
Service Directorate of the Nepal Police headquarters.The Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau has
more than 50 employees who are responsible for preventing human trafficking, investigating
criminal offenses related to human trafficking, rescuing victims of trafficking and providing
emergency protection to them, supervising other police units, maintaining central data on human
trafficking, and performing other tasks as required by law.
Question : What different role has been played by this bureau than of Nepal Police for
controlling Human Trafficking and Transportation?
Ishwar Bahadur Karki ( Director of Anti Human Trafficking Bureau) : This bureau has
been set up as specialized department under Nepal police specially for preventing human
trafficking, investigating criminal offenses related to human trafficking, rescuing victims of
trafficking and providing emergency protection to them, supervising other police units,
maintaining central data on human trafficking. Nepal Police is an umbrella organization and due
to workload and lack of specialized unit there has been slowness in executing the human
trafficking interventions so this agency has been set up to boost the anti- trafficking interventions
through special mechanism like under-cover operation.
Question : What is the present state of human trafficking in our country – which age group are
more vulnerable to human trafficking at present ?
Answer: The dimension of human trafficking has been changed. Earlier only for the sex, girls
are trafficked but now small children, boys, and men have also been trafficked for different types
of work in different sectors. At present, trafficking has been increasing more from entertainment
sectors like casino, bar, dohori saajh. Organ trafficking is also increasing at an alarming rate.
After Covid numbers of cases has been registered under human trafficking for prostituition and
numbers of disappeared child cases has been registered more. At present context, more
vulnerable age for human trafficking is women because of post covid scenario but if we look for
past 3-4 years numbers of trafficking cases has been registered in trafficking of child.
Question: What are the forms of human trafficking in seen in Nepal?
Answer: Human Trafficking is burning issue. Many peoples have been trafficked and in Nepal
women, child as well as men are trafficked for sex trafficking, exploitation of labor, modern day
slavery organ transplantation,forced marriage, exploitation of labor in course of foreign
employment, massage parlors restaurants established for entertainment purpose.
Question: What are the anti-human trafficking interventions carried out by this bureau regarding
Human Trafficking?
Answer: This specialized bureau has carried out many investigations, missions, under cover
operations to control and prevent Human Trafficking and transportation. In the last 6 years more
than 70 case has been registered more than 80 accused have been arrested and more than 150
accused has been absconded. In collaboration of state’s security agencies, international
organization this agency has been carrying out seminars, facts sharing meetings and has been
making recommendation to state to formulate strict policies and laws regarding human
trafficking and transportation. Recently we have arrested accused of human trafficking after 28
years. And we have also arrested woman who have been operating brothel in G.B Road, New
Delhi.

5.5 Interview with Joint Government Attorney Lok Raj Parajuli1, Nepal

Question 1: How Nepal’s law is working in combating Cross border trafficking?

Answer 1: Nepal's legal system is doing an excellent job of combatting Nepalese trafficking. I've
been working in this subject for a long time and have suggested several modifications to Nepal's
trafficking legislation.   As a government attorney, I recommended a strict punishment for human
traffickers and adequate recompense for victims of human trafficking. The majority of the things

1
Joint Government Attorney, Office of Attorney General
have been accepted, and the majority of the things are in the works. In the issue of human
trafficking, Nepalese legislation is far stricter than Indian law. 

Question 2: How many Nepalese get trafficked from Nepal every year?

Answer 2: The latest report on Trafficking in Persons from Nepal’s Human Rights Commission
estimates that around 35,000 people, including 15,000 women and 5,000 girls, were victims of
this crime in 2018

Question 3: Do you agree with this data?

Answer 3: No I do not agree with this data because how they are calculating the data of
trafficking, it is difficult to know for me because the different organizations are saying different
data of trafficking.

Question 4: What is your opinion in respect of NGOs who are working in combating cross
border trafficking?

Answer 4: NGOs of Nepal are working at ground level in combating trafficking. Today we are
in a position to say that Nepal is doing something for the safety of Nepalese only due to the work
of these NGOs.

Question 5: According to you is there any gap in working of the NGOs or in your law?

Answer 5: Everywhere loophole is available. In respect of law, I had already told you and in
respect of NGOs, there is a big gap in coordination.

Question 6: In respect of India and Nepal what you think about combating cross border
trafficking?

Answer 6: There should be a clear-cut law and coordination between the departments of both
countries. In the case of cross border trafficking, both countries should work on that law with
cooperation. Because the Government of India is thinking that only Nepalese are trafficked to
India but now the reality is different, now Indian girls are also being trafficked to Nepal.

Question 7: What are the anti-Human Trafficking interventions from the prosecution side?

Answer 7: During the fiscal year, police conducted 258 investigations involving 524 suspects,
the Office of the Attorney General initiated prosecution in 407 cases, and district courts
convicted 231 traffickers in 110 cases, all under the HTTCA. This is compared to initiating 313
investigations involving 546 suspects, initiating 303 prosecutions and continuing 190 from
previous years, and convicting 213 traffickers the previous reporting period. OAG has played
important role in implementing HTTCA in a well-mannered in controlling human trafficking and
transportation.

5.6 Trafficked Victim Case Study: 1

Reeya Karki (name changed) was working in the dance bar of the Thamel because of her
financial condition. One day she meets a person named Ritesh Gurung and he assured me that he
will take me to Mumbai to provide job in Dance Bar which pays me more. He told me that he
will help me in getting work. She agreed to go with Ritesh. One day I along with Ritesh cross the
border and we reached Delhi. I know a little bit Hindi that’s why I came to know that I am in
Delhi. We stay in a hotel for two days. He told me that he is trying to get a reservation on the
train and as we get reservation we will move for Mumbai. One day after taking my dinner I fell
asleep and now I am sure that something was in the food which makes me unconscious. On that
day something wrong work (forced sex) was done with me. The next morning he told me that
now we have a ticket for Mumbai. Ritesh , l and his friend hired a car and took me to another
place in Delhi. In the way again I was unconscious by drinking water because they mix some
drugs in the water. When I get conscious I found myself in one locked room. Letter I came to
know that, this was the red-light area of New Delhi. I was there for one and a half years. But I
keep on trying to go out of this place but there are so many private securities. Like me, there are
so many other girls from Nepal who are also present at that place. But one day some of the
peoples and police officials came and took me and other girls to the police station. And after a
few months, I came back to Nepal. Now I have been staying at hostel of Shakti Samuha and have
been engaging in making handicrafts items.

5.7 Available Data on Human Trafficking in Nepal

5.7.1 Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB)

Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB) of Nepal Police, there were 305 complaints filed
against human trafficking in the previous fiscal year (2017/18). Based on the data generated by
the end of March of FY 2018/19 and the previous year, Province 5 recorded the highest number
of cases (122), followed by Province 1 (87). Similarly, 69 cases have been filed in the
Kathmandu Valley and 35 in the rest of the districts within Province 3. As per the data from last
five years, the total number of registered complaints is 1,489, out of which 640 survivors (42.98
percent) have been allured; and 502 (33.71 percent) have been persuaded for the purpose of
trafficking. The mediums adopted by the traffickers include fake marriage (3.16 percent),
employment (3.90 percent), and international visits (2.35 percent).
5.7.2 Department of Foreign Employment
Department of Foreign Employment informs that it received total 12,090 complaints between
2013 and 2016/17; out of which 4,627 were filed against individuals and 7,463 against
recruitment agencies. Total 2,383 complaints were filed in the FY 2016/17 alone, of which 317
were forwarded for prosecution in the court and remained have been settled by the Department.
The Department oversees complaints of 30 natures, but most of the complaints have at least more
than one element of trafficking, hence, making them the criminal offences. Between 20 and 25
February 2019, 179 victims, including 147 women and 32 men, were rescued in leadership and
coordination of the government with suspected human trafficking cases. However, owing to lack
of adequate evidence and the survivors’ reluctance to file their complaints, the prosecution could
not be furthered even in one case. In light of the incident, several news media have published
reports about the existing organised crime of transporting people from Nepal via India with
assurances of taking them to their desired destinations such as the Gulf countries, Iraq, Libya,
Africa, Syria, Oman, Tajikistan and European countries. Nepali embassies in different countries
have prepared a list of the recruitment companies and individuals that are involved in human
trafficking, and made available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the government.
5.7.3 Border Security Force of India- SSB
The Times of India published a news report about the increase in Nepal India cross-border
trafficking of women and girls by five times. 2 The report is produced based on the data of Indian
Seema Suraksha Bal (Border Security Force of India- SSB) in past five years (2013-2018
February). According to the news, 607 were rescued and repatriated from border in 2017; 94
were rescued from 28 cases of trafficking and 49 traffickers were arrested by February 2018.
5.8 Available Data from Questionnaire
In spite of three decades of activism against human trafficking, it is still being widely linked with
traditional forms of flesh trade and human transportation across the borders. Different studies on
human trafficking suggest that more than 17,000 Nepali men, women and children are being
trafficked. However, merely 175 complaints have been filed in the first nine months of fiscal
year 2018/19.

2
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nepal-girls-trafficked-into-india-upby-500-in-last-5-years-ssbreport/arti
cleshow/63551720.html.
 Chart 1: Main causes of Human Trafficking in Nepal
2
10
20

10

5 10

5
20

Internal Trafficking poverty

Illiteracy Involvement of organized Crime
Lack Of Employment Opportunities Tourism and Entertianment Sector
Prostituition Others

From the questionnaire from the different stakeholders, the above data in chart 1 reveals that
main causes of Human Trafficking in Nepal are internal trafficking (24%) and involvement of
organized crime in Nepal (24%). Similarly, Tourism and entertainment sector (12%),
poverty(12%), prostitution (12%) lack of employment opportunities( 6%),etc. Trafficking
victims often are taken sto locations within Nepal, often from rural areas to the urban centers.
Mainly young girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation in places such as
cabin/dance restaurants, massage parlors, and other places within tourism sector. The major
causes behind this situation are a lack of legal provisions addressing the issues, social stigmas
attached with the survivors, and limited understanding on the human trafficking among the
general people.
 Chart 2 :Criminalize Commercial Sex Work
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Law Students General Public Sex Workers Academician

Yes No

From the questionnaire of different stakeholders, the above data in chart 2 reveals that 60% law
students opinioned on decriminalizing commercial sex work while 40% reveals that commercial
sex work should be criminalized in Nepal. The result of questionnaire from Academicians shows
that 80% academicians believes that commercial sex work should be criminalized while 20%
opinioned on decriminalization. The data from general public shows that 80% general public
believes that commercial sex work should be criminalized while 20% opinioned on
decriminalization. The data from sex workers shows that 70% sex workers opinioned on
commercializing sex work while 20% opinioned on decriminalization. So, from the above details
there is division of opinions regarding criminalizing and decriminalizing commercial sex work as
being debatable issue.