Human Trafficking in Post-Earthquake Nepal Impacts of the Disaster on Methods for Victim Recruitment
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Photo: Peter Eppler Human Trafficking in Post-Earthquake Nepal Impacts of the Disaster on Methods for Victim Recruitment Manuela Brülisauer MAS ETH Development and Cooperation 2014-2016 Supervised by Shailee Pradhan December 2015 1 Manuela Brülisauer, December 2015 Table of Contents List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ iii Experts Interviewed ................................................................................................................................. iii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Definition of Key Terms ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Method of Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................................ 2 2. Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Human Trafficking in a Non-Disaster Context ................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Factors that Cause or Affect Human Trafficking ......................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Human Trafficking in Pre-Earthquake Nepal .............................................................................. 4 2.2 Human Trafficking in the Context of Natural Disasters ..................................................................... 6 2.2.1 The Impact of Disasters on Human Trafficking .......................................................................... 6 2.2.2 The Case of Post-Earthquake Nepal ............................................................................................ 8 3. Results and Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Recruiting Methods used by Traffickers in Disaster and Non-Disaster Circumstances ................... 11 3.1.1 Offering Jobs .............................................................................................................................. 12 3.1.2 Offering Education ..................................................................................................................... 15 3.1.3 Offering Leisure Activities ........................................................................................................ 16 3.1.4 Engaging in Romantic Relationships ......................................................................................... 17 3.1.5 Promising Emergency Relief ..................................................................................................... 17 3.1.6 Placement in Monasteries .......................................................................................................... 18 4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 18 5. Works Cited ........................................................................................................................................... 19 6. Appendix .................................................................................................................................................. 1 6.1 Questionnaire ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Manuela Brülisauer, December 2015 List of abbreviations CRS Catholic Relief Service CTIP Combating Trafficking in Persons DCWP Danajon Communities Watch Project GDP Gross Domestic Product GoN Government of Nepal HTTCA Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies MANK Mahila Aatma Nirbharta Kendra MWCSW Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare SAIEVAC South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children TAF The Asia Foundation THTP The Human Trafficking Project TIP Trafficking in Persons OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights UN United Nations UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UN.GIFT United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime US United States USD United States Dollars VDC Village Development Committee Experts Interviewed Achyut Kumar Nepal – Communication Officer for Maiti Nepal: At the time of the interview, Achyut Kumar Nepal had been working for Maiti Nepal, the best-known anti-trafficking organization in Nepal, for eight years. Maiti Nepal, which was founded by 2010 NZZ Heroes awardee Anuradha Koirala in 1993, focuses on the prevention of girl trafficking and the rehabilitation of trafficking survivors through counselling and non-formal education. Krishna Bahadur Gurung – Project Coordinator for Mahila Aatma Nirbharta Kendra (MANK): Krishna Gurung has worked for MANK for the past 20 years. Stationed directly in the working area, he has led III Manuela Brülisauer, December 2015 projects on the reduction of human trafficking and child labour as well as gender-based violence. His responsibilities include the conduct of awareness raising campaigns, the establishment of transition centers for children and women and the support of protection units at local and district level. Maija Karolina Liakka – Child Protection Consultant at UNICEF Nepal: After having worked as an advisor on child protection at the East Finland EU Office in Brussels for a year, Maija Liakka joined the UNICEF Nepal Child Protection unit in 2013. UNICEF Child Protection supports the Government of Nepal in establishing and implementing a child protection system. Furthermore, the unit works with local partners in the fields of prevention and advocacy of human trafficking as well as the rescue and reintegration of victims. Activities conducted in these fields include awareness raising programmes, psychosocial counseling, the establishment of screening points along national borders and the support of transit centers for victims, among others (UNICEF 2015a). Nripendra Khatri – Protection and Accountability Officer for Catholic Relief Service (CRS): Before joining CRS to support post-earthquake relief efforts, Nripendra Khatri worked as a programme director for Prisoner Assistance. There, he gained experience in psycho-social therapy and vocational training for youth with criminal backgrounds and survivors of human trafficking. Rajan Burlakoti – Child Protection Officer for UNICEF: Before his appointment at UNICEF (for a description of the UNICEF programme see Maija Liakka above), Rajan Burlakoti worked as a Project Coordinator for Maiti Nepal and as a Campaign Coordinator for the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC). Thus, he has extensive experience on working with various stakeholders on different issues connected to human trafficking. Shareen Tuladhar – Programme Manager of the Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Programme at The Asia Foundation (TAF): The CTIP programme works on the prevention of human trafficking and seeks to improve the protection, reintegration and rehabilitation of trafficking survivors. In order to achieve this, the programme supports the government in the development of guidelines and policies. Furthermore, CTIP promotes safe labour migration and capacity building trainings for communities, care givers and law enforcing officials. IV Manuela Brülisauer, December 2015 1. Introduction “This is the time when the brokers go in the name of relief to kidnap or lure women”, an anti-trafficking expert warned after the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015 (The Guardian 5 May 2015). “People here are now desperate and will take any chance”, another local community worker said, “there are spotters in the villages who convince family members and local brokers who do the deal” (The Guardian 5 May 2015). In fact, the phenomenon described by these statements is not new: similar scenarios were reported after other major natural disasters of recent years, including the 2004 Tsunami, cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar in 2008, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti (U.S. Department of State 2005; THTP 2008; U.S. Department of State 2013). Despite numerous media reports on human trafficking in post-disaster situations, academic research on these topics is still lacking behind. Thus, the UNEP (2011) note that “great uncertainty exists regarding the possible elevated levels of exploitation during political conflicts or climate related disasters”. Similarly, in a study aimed to better understand the ways in which natural disasters can increase the risk of trafficking, Andreas Psota (2014) finds that the methods used by recruiters in and after disasters have not been sufficiently analyzed in existing studies. In concrete terms, he states that more research should be done on the question whether traffickers use the same methods to recruit victims in and after disasters as in normal circumstances, or whether methods are adapted and new ones created. The aim of this paper is to contribute towards closing this last knowledge gap by 1) seeking to understand the ways in which the recent earthquakes have changed the context of human trafficking in