Young Rohingya girls largest group of trafficking victims: UN agency
United Nations, Oct 17 : The number of Rohingya refugees has reached nearly one million, with young girls sold into forced labour in Bangladesh accounting for the largest group of trafficking victims, according to a UN agency.
The UN Migration Agency (IOM) said on Tuesday that families desperate to earn money were frequently sending their daughters to work in dangerous environments.
The IOM said that women and girls lured into forced-labour accounted for two-thirds of those receiving the agency's support in Cox's Bazar and another 10 per cent were victims of sexual exploitation.
It said men and boys also were not exempt and account for about a third of refugees forced into labour.
Despite the often false promises of work and a better life, some victims are unaware of the risks or so desperate to escape the situation, that no measure is too drastic, it said.
"Sacrificing one family member for the sake of the rest of the family" is the rationale, Dina Parmer, IOM's head of protection services in Cox's Bazar, said in a statement.
The agency said that number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has reached nearly one million.
The IOM's counter-trafficking and protection staff have helped nearly 100 people who have escaped trafficking situations and returned to Cox's Bazar since the crisis began in August 2017.
An estimated 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine State since the military crackdown, resulting in a major crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The agency has provided physical and mental health assistance, legal counselling, shelters and emergency cash assistance to support survivors, but due to the nature of human trafficking, many victims are reluctant to come forward and are unaccounted for.
According to Parmer, the Rohingya refugee community is extremely vulnerable to human trafficking due to their brutal life experiences and lack of education wrought by long-term discrimination back home in Myanmar, where they have been an oppressed minority for decades.
The IOM and NGO partners are developing creative ways to communicate the dangers of trafficking in the camps, including comic illustrations, street drama and music illustrating real-life stories to spread the message.
One Rohingya woman, working gruelling hours for little pay in the fish-processing industry, told the agency that there were very limited number of jobs in the refugee camps and for women almost nothing.
The UN and the US have said the violence against Rohingyas amounted to ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar authorities have said that military crackdown against the rebels was aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who attacked police posts on the August 25.
According to the Red Cross estimates, only about 300,000 Rohingya remain in the entire state.
Myanmar and Bangladesh have reached a deal on the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas that sidelined the UN refugee agency.
According to the agreement, which was finalised in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Daw early last year, a two-year deadline has been set for the repatriation of the Rohingyas.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Quarrying conducted on government sites in Shirva, Karkala; Police file case against two
Karkala: In two separate cases of raids on government land in the taluk, Karkala police have registered cases against two men for allegedly carrying out illegal quarrying on government-owned sites.
Sub-inspector Lohith Kumar C.S. of Shirva Police Station conducted a raid on government land in Survey No. 181/1, Jarkala, in the taluk. The police team, including the SI and personnel Kishore and Anwar Ali, found two individuals working at the site; however, the men reportedly fled upon seeing the police vehicle. The site was confirmed to be used for illegal quarrying.
During the investigation, police found that one Surendra had been conducting quarrying activities on the site for an extended period. The team seized two iron crowbars, one iron rod with a wooden handle, two iron rods, and one iron chain from the spot.
A case has been registered against Surendra under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 4(1-a) and 21(4) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
In the second case, Karkala Town Police SI Shivakumar S.R. led a raid on a site in Survey No. 245 in Eralpadi village of Jarkala, following a tip-off about illegal quarrying. Although no workers were present during the raid, the investigation revealed that a person named Ramesh had been conducting quarrying at the site without permits and for personal gain.
Karkala Town Police have registered a case against Ramesh and are continuing their investigation.
