Dimapur, Sep. 22 (EMN): The chief justice of Meghalaya High Court, Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, has said that the issue of human trafficking in Nagaland appears to be unassuming on the surface but a closer look reveals that the menace of human trafficking is taking its root in the state.
“With the uneven development between urban towns like Kohima, Dimapur, and Mokokchung, and the growing urbanisation have led to a huge demand for domestic helpers, especially minor boys and girls from remote villages to urban towns,” Mir stated.
The chief justice was addressing the second regional consultation on child rights in the context of human trafficking in Northeast India on September 22 at Yojna Bhavan in Shillong. The event was organised by International Justice Mission (IJM), Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA), and Nagaland State Legal Services Authority (NSLSA).
During his address, Mir pointed out that IPC section 370A was added in 2013 to protect minor from trafficking and sexual exploitation, in which perpetrators shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than five years, which may even extend to 7 years.
“With new challenges various acts came into force, amendments have also been made so as to make penal provisions more stringent, but such offences could not be stopped,” he said. He wondered as to what could be the reasons that had failed the law to deter perpetrators from carrying out the heinous crime.
Stressing on human trafficking in Northeast India, Mir lamented that Northeast emerged as the hub of human trafficking in India. He mentioned unemployment, poverty, and migration as the reasons for human trafficking in the Northeast.
The chief justice reminded that Assam has the highest number of trafficking cases in India with 1494 cases. According to Mir, the protracted insurgency problem coupled with recurrent flood, and peculiar geographical setting has made Assam vulnerable to infiltration.
While lauding Mizoram for being the first state in the Northeast to formulate ‘Victim of Crime Compensation Scheme,’ Mir added that it has not completely prevented human trafficking in the state.
Pointing out that Meghalaya has the largest number of child trafficking after Assam, he said that thousands of children are working in hazardous conditions in the coal mines of Jaintia hills in Meghalaya. However, he said that the recent National Green Tribunal order has banned the rate of hole mining and compensation were offered to the child workers.
Stating that introspection is the need of the hour to meet the challenges of human trafficking, Mir urged the collective responsibility of stakeholders, state legal services authority, and police to take care of the rights of the children and save them from being exploited.
