KATHMANDU, Nepal–The chances of women trafficked to foreign countries being rescued stand very slim at a ratio of 100:10.
According to a report made public by Maiti Nepal though 328 women from the Mid West region were reported to have gone missing; only 33 of them were rescued in the past fiscal year.
“The number of cases registered in year was from our organisation alone,” Keshab Koirala, regional coordinator of the organisation, was quoted by eakantipur adding that the number could be much higher.
Most of the rescued were those trafficked to the Gulf countries illegally. Among them, 19 had been victim to sexual and labour exploitation while many others were rescued in a state where they were suffering from mental illnesses.
According to the report, most women who went out of contact were the ones sent by the traffickers at their own expense.
Meanwhile, as the government agencies do not have the record of women trafficked to the Gulf countries, it is hard to ascertain whether or not they reached the countries or went missing after reaching their destination. Hence, various organisations working in the field claimed that the rescue of such women had been harder due to government apathy.
For instance, Sapana Sharma of Rajhena and Nanki Maurya of Gangapur who had been trafficked to Saudi Arabia are out of contact for the past two years. Though their relatives have registered complaints and appealed various organisations for search and rescue efforts, the whereabouts of women remain unknown.
Likewise Sita Sharma, 30, and Munni Chaudhary, 28, of Bardiya have also gone out of contact for the past three years. The reports further states that most of the missing women were found to be trafficked by their own relatives or acquaintances. Although various organisations have been organising awareness campaigns in the community level for the prevention of such activities, such efforts have had but a little impact.