By Fr Tom Mangattuthazhe & Verghese V Joseph –
Guwahati: The members of United Christian Forum North East India (UCFNEI), an ecumenical Christian organization of North East India, have come forward to work together and address the issue of human trafficking in the region.
The forum which comprises members from North East India Christian Council (NEICC), Presbyterian Church of India (PCI), Council of Baptist Churches North East India (CBCNEI) and North East Regional Catholic Bishops’ Council (NEIRBC) organized a leadership webinar on human trafficking on August 7 and deliberated over the issue in the context of North East India.
Moderating the session, Rev. W. C. Khongwir from Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) encouraged participants to think and act ecumenically the issue of human trafficking in the region.
Speaking on the issue, Professor Rini Ralte, who started the ‘North East Helpline in 2012’, stated that in Bangalore alone there were more than 5 lakh people from North East India and more than 25 churches and Christian organizations in Bangalore who support the community from North East in faith and life issues, a wonderful example of Christian solidarity.
According to Ralte, persons affected by trafficking come from different states of North East and most of them are vulnerable women, and young girls and boys who are exploited.
“Human trafficking is active in many subtle ways and the end result has always been painful not only to the survivors but also their kith and kin back in their native villages. In the case of Bangalore a nodal officer is appointed by the government and the issues pertaining to the North east are dealt adequately,” she added.
Dr. Alana Golmei, who began her work in the year 2008 with a pan India helpline service for North East, in her presentation stated that “North-East India is a recruiting zone for human trafficking. The vulnerability of the region is a fact to be admitted and most of the cases are of young girls and dropouts”.
Admitting that there is a chain off traffickers involved, “It is difficult to identify the chain of persons involved. False promises of job lures many of our girls leading them to migrate to cities in India and abroad,” Dr Golmei stated.
Dr Golmei also added that the post-lockdown period was also a matter of grave concern as many people have lost their jobs, it is hard to find agents as the traffickers use people from North East India through online advertisements in the forms of talent hunt, fashion shows and so on.”
“There is a need for the churches to work together and address this issue from a common platform so that we reach out to our boys and girls. Collaborating with like-minded organizations and government departments in rescue, rehabilitation are crucial steps in the coming days.” Dr Golmei added.
Sr. Prema SCC, vice president of Amrat Talitha Kum India, highlighted the need to network in order to tackle the menace of human trafficking. She shared the data from the helpline services and the reality of women and girls who were still in the cities but have not returned to their home village. She felt that the reasons for this needed be explored and addressed. The ones associated with church groups respond well and are cared for. However, this is not the case with many of the cities in India.
Hit by COVID-19 and flood, people especially from Assam are more prone to trafficking. Most of them belong to the unorganized sector of the society but are not protected by the legal safeguards of the country, she said.
Quoting Pope Francis, “Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge on the body of Christ” she continued that there is a greater need to do strengthen the network through concerted efforts in order to save women and girls.
Mr. Mathew, who works with International Justice Mission (IJM) from Kolkata presented a paper on digital crime. He was of the opinion that more efforts were needed jointly work with the police, shelter homes and sharing of information.
He also stated that the economics and violence behind the crime were strong points for consideration. The data of 2016 revealed that the total profit money generated by the traffickers all over the world was Rs.8.6 lakh crore. The net worth of this industry was much more than that of some of the multinational companies and the economy of some of the world countries.
“The violence that takes place in the process is terrible. Often they are beaten, strangled, isolated, raped, burnt with cigarettes, starved, verbally abused and drugged. The traffickers apply horrendous methods to perpetuate the crime through blackmail, stalking, sextortion, harassment, threat to kill and even filming the abuse,” he said.
“COVID-19 too has exposed our children and youth to digital world more than ever. Misleading web domains, words, digital images and games on the internet, online indictments of children for sex, unsolicited obscene messages sent to a child during the use of internet applications can lead our youth and children astray,” Mr Mathew added.
The criminal syndicates behind the crimes are adept at using the modern technology. In the year 2017 alone, 24 lakhs of sexually abuse cases were reported, and also the unaccounted data in the recent years gives rise to an alarming scenario, he feared.
To effectively check these crimes, an organized response was the key message of Mathew to the participants.
Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad opined that that as an ecumenical alliance response, these evils can be effectively checked. The second challenge was to address the issue of human sexuality through education as God’s gift. A third mechanism was to empower people to address the root causes like poverty and unemployment. This was an ecumenical clarion.
Rev. Abel Jacob, founder and director of Hope Charitable Foundation (HCF) stressed the importance of prayer for children and youth. The Sunday platforms and other church platforms available should be used to educate people about the modern forms of evil and its manifestations. “There are tremendous possibilities in our North East region for our people for livelihood and these needs to be tapped and used for our people, here again the ecumenical model is one of the best option”. He too felt more networking among the churches with data, information and technology could address the issue to a great extent.
Mr. Allen Brroks, the spokesperson of UCFNEI, in his response said that North-East India has become a hub for human trafficking. “The social value system of our society has undergone lots of changes; the number of abuse cases, infanticide, abortion are some glaring examples. Technology has opened the highways for trafficking. People in our remote villages are accessible through modern technology.”
“We need to be aware of the laws in our country and thus education of the legal instruments is a must. There is a need for combined efforts of churches for campaigns, awareness programmes so that we address this issue as a matter of great concern. When we respond collectively we are able to respond in a much cohesive and better manner,” he stated.
Mrs. Aashima Samuel felt that human trafficking was exploitation of precious human life. “God has created us and this creation is being exploited.” The EFI churches involvement in collaboration with others on Prevention, rescue and rehabilitation were highlighted.
“Poverty is not just one cause of trafficking there are other factors as well. The domestic violence is a push factor as it forces persons to run out of the situation. A vigorous range of capacity building within our churches is of paramount importance and this needs to be backed up with ideology and theology. We need to have a lot of volunteers to do this networking. For example the youth volunteers who take care of their own communities,” she added.
Bishop Thomas Pulloppillil, the president of UCFNEI lauded the valuable inputs. He suggested that there was an urgent need to do a lot for the planning and execution of issues related to human trafficking.
Rev.Dr.Solomon Rongpi, senior pastor of Diphu Baptist Church and former general secretary of CBCNEI called for intentional teachings in the churches to take the message of human trafficking.
Fr G P Amalraj, deputy secretary of NEIRBC, in his intervention said that the Catholic Church in India and in particular the Catholic Church in North East India was committed to address the issues.
Fr C P Anto from Nagaland said that the webinar was an eye opener for many and proposed to have concrete action plans.
Rev Dr Ramengliana, secretary of UCFNEI responded saying that the issue was very relevant and needs to be taken forward.
Fr Babu SVD from Kerala during his intervention assured to help the work of anti-human trafficking works from Kerala. He said that the single largest group of guest workers in Kerala are from Assam.
Bishop Michael Herenz from CNI, in his closing remarks called upon the participants to carry forward the message of the seminar. The dignity of humanity is at stake. The example of Jesus offers a way forward: teaching, preaching and healing. This message is to be taken to our families, communities and Church forums. The webinar came to end by benediction pronounced by Bishop Micheal Herez.