Traffickers prey on disaster-hit children in India - agencies

by Suranee | March 24, 2009 at 10:22 pm

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I hope the Indian authorities look into this matter and stop the traffickers from destroying the lives of more children. This is serious. Not only are these children being forced to work as bricklayers and domestic servants, but their also being sold as brides.

How tragic that they've been deprived the right to their childhood and an education.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of children left vulnerable after devastating floods in eastern India are being trafficked to work as bricklayers, domestic servants and even sold as brides, aid agencies say.

Monsoon rains and burst dams in August last year unleashed major flooding in South Asia, killing about 1,500 people, mostly in India but also in Nepal.

The Indian state of Bihar bore the brunt of the devastation - 5 million people were affected and about 1.5 million had to be evacuated. At least 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of farmland was destroyed.

Aid workers say in the aftermath of the disaster - Bihar's worst floods in recent years - there has been a spurt in human trafficking from the region as traffickers prey on vulnerable children.

"The floods left behind so much devastation, landless farmers had to go out of the area to find work as their livelihoods were destroyed," said Thomas Chandy, head of Save the Children India.

"As a result, the women and children have been left behind in the villages where 'middle men' or 'agents' come and talk to the mothers and lure their children away with the promise of employment, a good salary and a better future."