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RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW (RGNUL), PUNJAB
IN FULFILLMENT OF PROJECT SUBMISSION FOR
IXth SEMESTER
ABSTRACT
APPROVED TOPIC – Inter-relation of Human Trafficking & Disaster Management: Nexus & Legal Analysis SOURCES REFERRED: Hameeda, S., Hlatshwayo, S., Tanner, E., Turker, M., & Yang, J. (2010). Human Trafficking in India: Dynamic, Current Efforts, and Intervention Opportunities for the Asia Foundation. Report by Stanford University for the Asia Foundation. Barner, John R., David Okech, and Meghan A. Camp. “Socio-Economic Inequality, Human Trafficking, and the Global Slave Trade.” Societies 4, no. 2 (June 2014):148–
- https://doi.org/10.3390/soc4020148. B. Gyawali, J. Keeling, P. Kallestrup, Human trafficking in Nepal: post-earthquake risk and response, Disaster Med. Public Health Prep. 11 (2) (2016) 153–154, https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.121. Dutta Mondira. ‘Mapping Vulnerability to Trafficking of Women and Children in India’, sponsored by UN Women and the National Commission for Women, March 2011, UN Women, New Delhi.
- SUBMITTED BY: Tathagat Tiwari Roll no. 17008 Section ‘A’ Vth Year, B.A.LL.B (Hons.)
RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW (RGNUL), PUNJAB
ABSTRACT
In the last few years, there has been some speculation regarding the relationship between natural disasters and human trafficking. Although human trafficking is not as well-studied as the gravity of the problem warrants, there has recently been an increase in speculation of the relationship between human trafficking and natural disasters. Isolated incidents of disasters in certain areas of the world have led people to infer a positive correlation between the two phenomena. In this project, the researcher shall firstly explore the camouflaged connection between human trafficking and disaster response. The deep linkages shall also be understood via a case study focusing on the Nepal earthquake and its aftermath. Then, a legal analysis of the subject-matter shall be undertaken so as to provide recommendations in areas that lack a proper framework. Herein, focus shall be on analysing the actual implementation of human trafficking laws in India and their effectiveness during periods of disaster. The Doctrinal research methodology shall be followed to research and present this project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
- UNDERTAKING
- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
- CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- THE LINKAGES CHAPTER TWO: DISASTERS & HUMAN TRAFFICKING – UNDERSTANDING
- 2.1 Causative Factors Linking To Human Trafficking Post Disaster
- FLOODS (2020) CHAPTER THREE: CASE STUDY – NEPAL EARTHQUAKE (2015) AND BIHAR
- 3.1 Nepal Earthquake (2015)
- 3.1.1 Background and Historical Context
- 3.1.2 Significance of the 2015 Earthquake
- 3.1.3 Core Challenges
- 3.2 Bihar Floods (2020)
- CHAPTER FOUR: LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT-MATTER
- 4.1 International Framework
- 4.2 Indian Legal Framework
- CHAPTER FIVE: GUIDELINES/ RECOMMENDATIONS
- 5.1 General Recommendations
- 5.2 Recommendations with respect to Legal Framework and Law Enforcement
- 5.3 Suggestions Regarding Rehabilitation of Victims of Trafficking
- DETAILED REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very thankful to Dr. Ivneet Walia, Assistant Professor of Law, who helped and guided me in this endeavour of preparing this report. This couldn’t have been possible without her. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor for accepting my topic and giving continuous support and guidance during internship. She gave me necessary inputs and directions so as to enable me to successfully complete my work. Till the time, SFH i.e. Study from Home is going on, I thank my parents for providing me the appropriate resources for this work. At last, I’d like to thank all the authors and contributors without whom this project wouldn’t have been as diverse as it is now. DATE: ……….. TATHAGAT TIWARI
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
FIRSTLY, to describe, analyze and present in detail the inter-linkages between disasters and human trafficking, SECONDLY, to discuss contemporary examples of the same in form of case studies and deduce relevant pointers, THIRDLY, to carry out a detailed analysis of the existing legal framework vis-à-vis the research topic, FOURTH, to present guidelines/ recommendations from contemporary examples and research to tackle the issue at its very root cause. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Whether there exist inter-linkages between disaster management and human trafficking?
- Whether the existing legal framework is sufficient to deal with the multi-faceted issue at hand? RESEARCH METHODOLOGY For this report, the main objective of research is to add to the knowledge of public domain and to address the specific problem. The purpose of conducting a research is to give specific guidelines as to fill up the gaps and lacunas in certain areas that lack a proper framework. The methodology used by the researcher in the present study is: - Analytical method along with pure and applied research methods. Doctrinal Study would cover secondary resources such as commentaries, books, scholarly articles, and web journals referred by the researcher. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS For the present research, the foremost limitation is the vast usage of doctrinal research techniques and not substantiating it with on-ground questionnaires and interviews. This limitation is to be blamed on the Coronavirus pandemic which has severely restricted movement and people to people connection. Secondly, as the entire project has been compiled by a single researcher, certain subjective bias may have crept in although effort has been made to reduce it entirely.
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Disaster management is essentially a dynamic process. It comprises of management functions like planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. It also involves many organizations working jointly to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from the effects of disaster. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, and landslides have been a recurrent phenomenon. About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquake of various intensities; an area of over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about 8 % of total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is susceptible to drought.i^ The loss in terms of private, community and public assets due to disasters has been astronomical. Apart from natural disasters, some cities in India are also vulnerable to chemical, industrial and other manmade disasters. Millions of people are affected every year and the economic losses caused by natural disasters amount to a major share of the Gross National Product (GNP). Natural Disasters are huge economic burdens on developing economies such as India. The Global Assessment Report 2011 published by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR) estimates that more than 90 percent of the global population exposed to floods live in South Asian, East Asian and the Pacific countries. Among the disaster-prone countries in South Asia, India and Bangladesh are highly vulnerable due to the large population exposed to disasters in India and the geographical, riverine and topographical features of coastal areas of Bangladesh vulnerable to floods and cyclones. The slavery of men, women, and children can be traced back in history to almost every culture, nationality, and religion. From ancient times to present day, human exploitation has been a global issue, varying in legal and social acceptance and economic importance through the course of time.ii^ Although today human trafficking has been outlawed everywhere in the world, it remains widely prevalent but largely unknown. In fact, The Economist (2005) compares slavery to polio. As many westerners relate it with earlier, darker times in human history, its extinction is widely assumed. However, while its eradication would demonstrate human progress, like polio, that has not yet been the case. It has been estimated that 20.9 million people worldwide are being exploited at any given time 18.7 million (90 percent) are exploited in the private sector, with 68 percent
Haiti also created appalling economic conditions. With the loosening of borders to allow aid flow and too many Haitian children already in forced labour, the earthquake only made Haiti even more susceptible to further exploitative conditions. Even the drought of 2011 in Africa saw families marrying off their daughters (often as young as nine years old) to pay their dowries before their livestock died (Calkins, 2013). Regardless of the clear patterns seen during natural disasters, human trafficking intervention is not prioritized in disaster relief efforts, especially child protection. Misty Buswell, the Deputy head of Office, Child Protection Initiative, Save the Children, noted that disaster relief responses usually concentrate on food. However, other tragedies like droughts cause displacement and increase vulnerability in such a way that it requires better protection and funding mechanisms. Currently, the lowest funded sector is protection and lowest within that sector is child protection (Singh, 2012). Although scarce, there have been some efforts to address this issue. For instance, the U.S. Department of State has called for anti-trafficking measures during humanitarian aid settings. Also, programs such as the JTI Foundation pilot program seek to increase the evidence of the relationship between the frequency and intensity of natural disasters and a rise in human trafficking. This foundation emphasizes the importance of preventing forced migration through the establishment of a hazards and vulnerabilities database and the development of Community- Based Disaster Risk Reduction strategies. Awareness of this relationship is improving but as Harvard’s Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research has stated, a stronger international response to human trafficking during complex emergencies is crucially necessary. Human trafficking occurs when vulnerable people are exploited. One reason people fall prey to trafficking is situational vulnerabilities. Natural disasters exemplify a situational vulnerability where lives are disrupted on many levels. As a consequence of a disaster, a person’s home, job, and overall stability may be lost, which places that individual in a vulnerable state. Human trafficking actors can seize on the abrupt change in one’s life. By evaluating multiple cases of human trafficking, as well as, several natural disaster incidents, some common vulnerability factors can be determined: economic, social, and human security. Various types of post-natural-disaster environments including hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and tsunamis around the world exhibited these factors.
Situational vulnerabilities are a well-documented explanation for human trafficking. If a sudden change in an individual’s life or environment occurs, traffickers can manipulate this weakness and lure the person into a trafficking situation. Natural disasters pose a particular situational vulnerability because of the interruption or elimination of multiple community systems and structures which in turn disrupts access to the basic needs of the population. In sum, natural disasters inspire a mounting concern not only because of the frequency and costliness, but also for the situational vulnerabilities which can create a susceptibility to human trafficking activities.iii Likewise, human trafficking is a growing concern and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) reports it affects every country in the world. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that human trafficking has an annual profit of over $150 billion, which exceeds the annual net profits of Microsoft, Samsung, and Apple combined. Although natural disaster can create situational vulnerabilities for disaster survivors, the concern for human trafficking extends beyond those directly impacted by the disaster. Vulnerabilities for external population groups may arise as well. Labour trafficking is a significant concern during disaster response as rebuilding efforts demand increased resources for construction and labour positions. During catastrophic disaster events, the requests for work exceeds the supply of available workers to meet the demand. Both human trafficking and natural disasters touch world in significant ways, and when these two realms collide, tragedy results. For example, labour trafficking characterized Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Labour traffickers exploited more than an estimated 3,700 workers from 10 different countries during response efforts for Hurricane Katrina. The majority of these workers will not receive justice for the abuse they endured. This lack of justice is common as of the over 16 million cases of forced labour worldwide, only about 1000 of those cases have been prosecuted.iv This example and many others show the need to further examine the mutual relationship between human trafficking and natural disasters.
commented on this phenomenon to a popular news outlet saying, “this is the time when the brokers go in the name of relief to kidnap or lure women.” Human traffickers capitalize on the lack of coordination, government infrastructure, and general communication to pose as relief workers, from well-known organizations, in order to lure victims and sell them as slaves. Instability after a disaster can make people especially vulnerable to trafficking. People may be more vulnerable because they are: Displaced from their homes (temporarily living in a shelter), separated from family and friends, disconnected from supportive services and unable to safely earn income and be self-sufficient. People who don’t speak a local language may be more vulnerable because they: can’t communicate to authorities, are afraid of physical harm or stigma, have no access to assistance, services, or protection provided by local laws. It need not be emphasized that regions that are in the grip of extreme poverty, human rights violation, conflict ridden and war torn have enhanced the risk and vulnerability of women and children to trafficking. The world today is a witness to the mass exodus of people migrating from one place to another due to conflict, war, natural calamities, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and insurgency or simply in search of livelihood options. Such regions that are in the grip of extreme poverty, human rights violation, conflict ridden and war torn have enhanced the risk and vulnerability of women and children to trafficking. There seems to be a thin line between migration, human smuggling, human trafficking and other related issues.v South Asia happens to be a home to the second largest numbers of internationally trafficked persons, estimated to be around 150,000 persons annually (UNFPA, 2006). India, Bangladesh and Nepal have been identified as the major source countries for women and children being trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude and bondage of debt. South Asian region in particular has witnessed exploitation of women and children under the garb of fraudulent marriages, false job promises, culture and religious beliefs and deceit. They become even more vulnerable in a situation as a result of a disaster which takes away their land, house and the few livelihood options that were prevalent in their places of residence. It is often suggested that women and girls post disaster will be forced into sex work. However, sufficient (reliable and robust) studies do not exist to support the extent of
this outcome. The post-earthquake period in Haiti was linked with a rise in the number of women and girls engaging in sex work. In May 2011 UNHCR conducted several focus groups with women and adolescent girls in a selection of internally displaced people (IDP) camps. Based on the testimonies of participants, the study found that the practice of women and adolescent girls engaging in transactional sex in Port-au-Prince was widespread (Mcloughlin, 2011). There are several other examples of transactional or survival sex following disasters and conflict where women and girls are coerced into providing sex in exchange for food and other relief items or protection (IRFC, 2012). However, it is not clear the extent to which levels of such sexual exchanges increase post-event, or if the nature of these change in terms of with whom women engage in sex, or which women engage in such transactions (Bradshaw et al, 2013) As for Nepal, trafficking was already included in emergency preparedness plans. Although it may seem logical that the risk for trafficking increases following a natural disaster the link is rarely recognized or examined closely in humanitarian agency documents and reports until the IOM report mentioned above. In the report The Climate Change- Human Trafficking Nexus IOM claims that there is an absence of academic studies and policy documents on the effect of slow- and sudden-onset on human trafficking (IOM, 2016). Therefore, there is a need to examine the link between human trafficking and natural disasters. This may be linked to what Elizabeth G.Ferris writes in the book Politics of Protection: The Limits of Humanitarian Action (2011); Despite the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, many humanitarian actors continue to see natural disasters and those displaced by them as marginal to the central thrust of humanitarian action: responding to those affected by conflict. The assumption has been that conflicts and natural disasters are fundamentally different and that response to natural disasters is basically a question of logistics while complex emergencies and conflicts always bring forth protection issues” (Ferris, 2011). Despite this assumption, Ferris claims that recent research shows that conflicts and disasters affects communities in a similar way. Ferries goes on writing that “humanitarian response is especially complex when disasters strikes communities already weakened by conflict”, as is the case with Nepal after the 10 year long conflict. “Natural disasters are much more than environmental events. They have profound political, environmental, social, spatial, and psychological consequences. A natural disaster unearths and challenges the power
are greater for women compared to their male counterparts. Relocation after disasters increases women’s workloads, decreases their control over food and income, and disrupts their social support networks, i.e., friends, relatives, and neighbours, on whom they depended for practical and psychological support. Designation of November 25 in 1999 as UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was of major significance. The UN in the 23rd Special Session of General Assembly clearly spelt out the action needed to address the problem of violence against women especially human trafficking of women and children (UNWOMEN, 2000). The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted in November 2000, along with two optional protocols by which countries would undertake in-depth measures to combat smuggling of migrants and the trafficking in women and children. The protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children is the first attempt to address trafficking in persons in a comprehensive manner based on the expanded understanding of the term trafficking and its multiple dimensions. The protocol applies to the prevention and combating of trafficking as well as to the protection of and assistance for victims and cooperation among state parties (Palermo Convention, 2000) The three major factors of vulnerability that affect women and girls most as a result of disaster are – Cultural Component It need not be mentioned that when a disaster hits it is the women who are the worst sufferers and take upon themselves the responsibility to carry forward the society, family and children in the name of legacy of protecting their culture and tradition on behalf of the whole community. So, at such times the cultural factor becomes even more influential in taking the women victims towards being sexually exploited in order to make a living. It is for the first time that the Census of India has documented few of these communities and their distribution pattern in space. Field visits further unravelled a plethora of such communities that exist today. The Rajnats, Bedia, Dommara, Lambada, Joigini, Satnami, Kanjar, Sansui, and the list goes on. Culture and tradition thus at times plays a dominant role in the lives of the women in the disaster hit areas. The cultural factor perhaps is the one which has been ignored and goes unnoticed from the perspectives of vulnerability to trafficking of women and children. With sanction
from the society this system has become accepted by the community as part of the cultural norm. India is so far the only land where women / girls are worshipped as well as marketed by their own parents and brothers as a commodity in the name of caste and suffer inequalities and shame for no fault on their part” (Sanlaap,2008) A disaster hit region promotes such a culture even more as there are no livelihood options left for the women. The society and family justify such occupations in the name of culture and traditions. Age Specific Sex Ratio (10-24 years) The combination of a situation where disaster hits a place having a strong cultural factor especially for the age group of 10-24 is a deadly combination. This fact can be found from the secondary sources of information. The Census of India 2001, provides the data on sex ratio under various age group. The map shows the districts where the age group 10 to 24 years are conspicuous by their absence. The number of girls and women who have gone missing belonging to the age group (10 to 24). Similarly other districts from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also displayed a similar picture. Data from Census of India clearly displays this phenomenon.vii Hazard Prone Vulnerable Districts The Kosi belt of Bihar and Brahmputra and Ganga flood plain areas in Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal are inundated year after year due to floods displacing a large number of people. Similarly, drought situations in Central parts of India, Rajasthan, Gujarat also force people to look for outside support. The coastal belts are also prone to inundation of saline water due to cleaving. Such an indicator includes all the hazard (natural) prone areas of the country which have been hit by natural calamity such as drought, floods, earthquake, etc. Owing to natural disasters such as droughts, floods and hailstorms there is a loss of crop, cattle and property leading to the fall in family income and forcing the population to migrate.
. This intersection supports a conceptual conclusion that natural disasters present opportunities for human trafficking. Described attributes such as poverty, social inequalities, and a breakdown in community safeguards become heightened issues after a natural disaster devastates an area, and these attributes are also common
CHAPTER THREE: CASE STUDY – NEPAL EARTHQUAKE (2015) AND
BIHAR FLOODS (2020)
3.1 Nepal Earthquake (2015) Two major earthquakes - a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the 25th of April 2015 followed by a second powerful 7.3-magnitude quake 2 weeks later had a tremendous impact in Nepal. More than 8500 people were killed and thousands left injured and displaced, other more hidden repercussions of the resultant chaotic environment need attention: the increased risk of human trafficking in the wake of complex disasters. When the earthquake happened root causes of human trafficking was made worse for people who were already vulnerable. They therefore became more vulnerable to traffickers who came to villages right after the earthquake offering false job and education opportunities. Children were most at risk immediately after the earthquake while women and young men were more at risk of trafficking and unsafe migration some months and years after as push factors of trafficking continue to increase. Nepal is a main source country for human trafficking in South Asia. Although largely framed as a legal and a social issue, human trafficking is also a major public health problem globally because victims of trafficking experience health-related problems and are at higher risk of injury, illness, or death. While the scale of human trafficking is a global phenomenon, populations in a post-disaster scenario are at higher risk. The open borders between Nepal and neighbouring India have provided opportune conditions for the illegal movement of women and girls to India and further afield. The paucity of border controls and concurring corruption further compound the situation with chaos and weak law enforcement. While political instability has plagued Nepal since the end of the civil war, the disrupted law enforcement and the current post-disaster period leaves Nepalese children and women at higher risk of being trafficked. The risk increases for children separated from their families, as they may be believed to be missing or dead.viii Natural disasters such as an earthquake increases vulnerabilities through exaggerating root causes for human trafficking such as poverty, economic inequalities and structural inequalities. The counter-trafficking measures in the response and recovery must go beyond raising awareness of risks and intercepting people at borders. The root causes must be dealt with through equitable response and recovery that is rooted in the humanitarian principles by meeting the different needs of women, girls, boys and men
based on age, social and financial status. If this is not done, then people are at higher risk of traffickers and recruitment agents who take advantage of people in need a secure livelihood for themselves and their family. 3.1.1 Background and Historical Context Human trafficking has had a pervasive presence in our world, although often disclosed and unseen due to the nature of secrecy surrounding the practice. Nepal seems to be disproportionately affected by human trafficking, as 20,000 women and girls are smuggled across the border every year. When looking at the specificity of trafficking in Nepal, one must attend to the broader social, political, cultural and economic undercurrents in the country. These structures of violence impact all Nepalis in profound ways, but often tend to disproportionately impact women, which then lends significance to our discussion of trafficking. To begin with the issues that impact all Nepalis, Nepal has one of the lowest human development indicators in the world. This lack of development functions synergistically with the presence of poverty, as there is a dearth of economic opportunity in Nepal. In 2004, 90% of Nepalis relied on subsistence agriculture, and 82% lived on less than $ US per day.ix^ This poverty specifically and disproportionately impacts women, in that it leads to the desire to migrate, which open lanes for sexual trafficking, and families begin to rely on young girls for income while investing in their sons’ futures by providing them with an education. 3.1. 2 Significance of the 2015 Earthquake When the Gorkha 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks hit Nepal in the spring of 2015, it not only displaced 2,6 million people (iDMC, 2016), it destroyed over 600 000 homes, killed 8.790, injured 22.300 people (Raj and Gautman, 2015) and destroyed people’s livelihoods. It also increased people´s vulnerabilities for human trafficking in one of the poorest countries of the world. Ranking as number 144 out of 188 on the Human Development Index (HDI), trafficking was already an issue in the country where patriarchal culture and the caste system, despite being banished in 1950 make up the social fabric. A rather new issue on the humanitarian agenda, the increased risk of human trafficking after the earthquake was reported in both Nepali and international media. A year later, a National Human Rights Report stated that human trafficking in fact did go up with 15% in the first months following the earthquake.
