A trafficker remains scot-free
8 July 2011
A trafficker remains scot-free
JUL 08 -
It was in April this year when three worried adults in Humla
submitted a letter of appeal to the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), a
statutory body under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social
Welfare.
Humble words requested for help in repatriating girl
children from Tamil Nadu, India- “…a place wherefrom it is impossible to learn
of their well being and condition…and where our children have expressed over the
telephone their inability to continue staying”-the letter states in
Nepali.
Guardians Dhan Maya Lama, Saraswati Lama and Krishna Lama
(names changed) of Humla had entrusted the responsibility of their children to a
local politician in the year 2004, convinced of his promises to educate them in
a boarding school in Kathmandu, away from the conflict-ridden place that Humla
was in those years. But in the year 2006, the parents came to learn that their
children had been taken all the way down to Tamil Nadu, and they were not even
informed about it. “When he first took them, we gave him money for taking our
children to a better place. But it has been seven years now and he refuses to
bring them back to us,” said Dhan Maya over the telephone from
Humla.
Claimed by many villagers in Humla, such a practice—of
entrusting one’s child into the hands of people with authority, along with sums
of money—has been a resort for many parents. Humli parents often believe these
persons with authority to give their children a better future. The families of
Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna followed suit and their children were taken
away, later enrolled at the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu—a
Christian organisation that claims to house and provide education to orphan
girls.
About four years ago, another Humli parent Dhiren Lama
(name changed) along with five friends hunted down the person who had taken
their children away. UML member Dal Bahadur Phadera was coerced by the group to
bring their children back. Phadera had succumbed then, taking the group of
guardians with him to the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. “We had
to spend so much money to finally track him down, but even then he tried to
assuage us by saying, ‘Let me celebrate Tihar first, and then I shall get your
children’,” recalls Dhiren. Dhiren and his friends invested significantly in
making their way from Humla, to Kathmandu and Gorakhpur, en route to Tamil Nadu.
But unlike him, Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna, have yet to gather finances
and the courage to make Phadera bring their children back.
At the
Michael Job Centre, Dhiren learned that Phadera was rewarded with money by the
centre for bringing to it girl children. Attempts to contact the centre for
corroborations, however, were unsuccessful as phone calls were not answered. The
centre itself claims to have a mission of saving orphaned girls of Christian
martyrs, after the principal Dr. P.P Job’s own son, Michael, was run down with a
car—as the website claims—by radical Hindus of India. Also accepting orphans of
any other religion, it has had a record of receiving girls from Nepal. But its
reputation would best be defined as ambiguous for a news report titled ‘Mother
seeks return of her daughter’ (Apr. 30 2010) from the Manipur Mail informs of 20
Manipuri girls from Churachandpur district to have been “beaten to bleeding” and
confined all days inside the Michael Job campus. Could this be a reason why the
children express their inability to stay in the centre, as stated in the
letter?
Aside from this, Dhiren’s niece, who was brought back
with 12 other girls talked of receiving an education at the centre in Tamil Nadu
and the place appeared to be good for children in Dhiren’s eyes too, letting one
believe that such a case would be hard to define as trafficking. But says
Dhiren: “He (Phadera) is not a good man. I had given him Rs. 12,000 when I
handed my niece over to him and a separate Rs. 3,000 to my niece for her
personal expense. But Phadera snatched the money off her
hands.”
Dhiren's grit and courage had him get his niece back by
himself. But in lacking such daring, what Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna
should have done is filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the local
police, enabling rescue organisations in India to enter and investigate the
alleged institute where their children are kept. But uninformed of these
criminal justice procedures, and unsure of its advice from local NGOs and INGOs,
Dhan Maya went back to Phadera instead to consult the matter. “He was extremely
angry when I talked to him about this,” recalls Dhan maya, who told the Post of
Phadera’s bullying ways whenever she gathered her voice to ask of her child.
“The school is good, don’t file the report,” Phadera would tell her and end the
conversation. Corroborations with officers of a local NGO in Humla that works
closely with Humli families to bring back their lost children confirm the
same.
Dal Bahadur Phadera, known to anti-trafficking
organisations in Kathmandu as ‘DB’, is known to exert considerable fear and
influence among civilians in Humla. He is a martial arts practitioner, say some
and “someone who follows you around if you come in his way” others. But the man
and his notoriety are an open secret among Humlis, child rights officers and
administrators in government and non-government bodies, who take his name easily
when discussed with about child trafficking. A child rights officer of the
District Child Welfare Board claims Phadera to “not have stopped trafficking
entirely” whereas an officer at the Central Child Welfare Board acknowledges his
reputation as a trafficker.
But aside from these sources,
Phadera’s history in trafficking has been previously reported in Saroj
Adhikari’s article ‘Bal Balika ko Rahasmaya Osaar Pasaar’ in the July 2006 issue
of Nepal magazine. Adhikari reports the stark discrepancy between the number of
children registered in a dozen schools in the Valley where Phadera claims to
have enrolled them, and the number actually present. “Details given by Dal
Phadera state 32 minors to have been enrolled in Pushpanjali Boarding School in
Taukhel, but the school’s teacher Sharada Lamichhane of the Accounts Department
claims 14 of them to be absent,” he writes.
Additional proof of
Phadera’s engagement in trafficking children comes from a group of children
rescued by the non-profit organisation Next Generation Nepal. Currently staying
at their children’s home in Balkot, 16-year-old Sravan Puri (name changed) gives
a heart-rending testimony of leaving home for Kathmandu when he was eight, being
taken in custody by Dal Phadera, and eventually forced to beg in the streets.
Similar testimonies have come from Sravan’s friends who now in their late teens,
were all victims of Phadera’s guile. “DB used to bring volunteers to the
orphanage in Mathatirtha, but he would take away all the goodies and stationary
items they would bring for us,” he shares of his days in the Mathatirtha
orphanage run under Phadera’s organisation Himali Anath Bal Bikas Kendra (Himali
Orphan Child Development Centre). Both the orphanage and the organisation
closed down in the year 2006 after the orphanage was discovered to have been run
illegally.
Put into custody for three days by the Nepal Police in
the same year, Phadera was released by the sheer weight of his political
influence, reports Adhikari, now with the Kantipur Daily. Current attempts to
contact the Humla police via telephone to inquire on following up with this case
were unsuccessful, whereas the Kathmandu police were not ready with a comment at
the time of publication.
In conversation with the Post, Phadera
claimed of not taking any money from parents in Humla. “I do not know who Dhiren
is, besides, when members of the UCPN (Maoist) party kidnapped me on charges of
several complaints of trafficking, it was done with political motives and for
character assassination,” he added, regarding an accusation by members of UCPN
(Maoist) of Humla in the year 2006-7. Interestingly, in a statement denying
charges from the UCPN (Maoist), Phadera quotes the name of a certain ‘Chakkra
Shahi’ as a trafficker, who is also named by a villager in the documentary Paper
Orphans produced by the Swiss humanitarian organisation Terre Des Hommes, to
have carried out similar activities of deceiving Humli parents and taking
children away.
The Human Trafficking and Transportation Control
Act (2007) and Regulation (2008)— as mentioned in the 2011 Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) report issued by the US Government in June this year—subjects
persons guilty of trafficking to 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment. Phadera has not
been subject to any such punishment.
This issue of families being
deceived by traffickers in the Karnali region has been addressed for the first
time in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The report also addresses
the impunity enjoyed by politically-connected perpetrators and the negative
effect it has had in the number of trafficking cases filed with the police. But
slow justice and a long wait before reunification remains the reality of most
families, who in their circumstances have unwittingly lost their
children.
Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna wait for what
assistance can come from their local NGO and the DCWB in response to their
letter of appeal. Says the NGO officer who has been contacted by the CCWB for
coordination: “We have asked for institutional and strategic help in our letter
in response to the CCWB, but we have yet to send it.”
Posted on:
2011-07-21 02:58
It was in April this year when three worried adults in Humla
submitted a letter of appeal to the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), a
statutory body under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social
Welfare.
Humble words requested for help in repatriating girl
children from Tamil Nadu, India- “…a place wherefrom it is impossible to learn
of their well being and condition…and where our children have expressed over the
telephone their inability to continue staying”-the letter states in
Nepali.
Guardians Dhan Maya Lama, Saraswati Lama and Krishna Lama
(names changed) of Humla had entrusted the responsibility of their children to a
local politician in the year 2004, convinced of his promises to educate them in
a boarding school in Kathmandu, away from the conflict-ridden place that Humla
was in those years. But in the year 2006, the parents came to learn that their
children had been taken all the way down to Tamil Nadu, and they were not even
informed about it. “When he first took them, we gave him money for taking our
children to a better place. But it has been seven years now and he refuses to
bring them back to us,” said Dhan Maya over the telephone from
Humla.
Claimed by many villagers in Humla, such a practice—of
entrusting one’s child into the hands of people with authority, along with sums
of money—has been a resort for many parents. Humli parents often believe these
persons with authority to give their children a better future. The families of
Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna followed suit and their children were taken
away, later enrolled at the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu—a
Christian organisation that claims to house and provide education to orphan
girls.
About four years ago, another Humli parent Dhiren Lama
(name changed) along with five friends hunted down the person who had taken
their children away. UML member Dal Bahadur Phadera was coerced by the group to
bring their children back. Phadera had succumbed then, taking the group of
guardians with him to the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. “We had
to spend so much money to finally track him down, but even then he tried to
assuage us by saying, ‘Let me celebrate Tihar first, and then I shall get your
children’,” recalls Dhiren. Dhiren and his friends invested significantly in
making their way from Humla, to Kathmandu and Gorakhpur, en route to Tamil Nadu.
But unlike him, Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna, have yet to gather finances
and the courage to make Phadera bring their children back.
At the
Michael Job Centre, Dhiren learned that Phadera was rewarded with money by the
centre for bringing to it girl children. Attempts to contact the centre for
corroborations, however, were unsuccessful as phone calls were not answered. The
centre itself claims to have a mission of saving orphaned girls of Christian
martyrs, after the principal Dr. P.P Job’s own son, Michael, was run down with a
car—as the website claims—by radical Hindus of India. Also accepting orphans of
any other religion, it has had a record of receiving girls from Nepal. But its
reputation would best be defined as ambiguous for a news report titled ‘Mother
seeks return of her daughter’ (Apr. 30 2010) from the Manipur Mail informs of 20
Manipuri girls from Churachandpur district to have been “beaten to bleeding” and
confined all days inside the Michael Job campus. Could this be a reason why the
children express their inability to stay in the centre, as stated in the
letter?
Aside from this, Dhiren’s niece, who was brought back
with 12 other girls talked of receiving an education at the centre in Tamil Nadu
and the place appeared to be good for children in Dhiren’s eyes too, letting one
believe that such a case would be hard to define as trafficking. But says
Dhiren: “He (Phadera) is not a good man. I had given him Rs. 12,000 when I
handed my niece over to him and a separate Rs. 3,000 to my niece for her
personal expense. But Phadera snatched the money off her
hands.”
Dhiren's grit and courage had him get his niece back by
himself. But in lacking such daring, what Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna
should have done is filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the local
police, enabling rescue organisations in India to enter and investigate the
alleged institute where their children are kept. But uninformed of these
criminal justice procedures, and unsure of its advice from local NGOs and INGOs,
Dhan Maya went back to Phadera instead to consult the matter. “He was extremely
angry when I talked to him about this,” recalls Dhan maya, who told the Post of
Phadera’s bullying ways whenever she gathered her voice to ask of her child.
“The school is good, don’t file the report,” Phadera would tell her and end the
conversation. Corroborations with officers of a local NGO in Humla that works
closely with Humli families to bring back their lost children confirm the
same.
Dal Bahadur Phadera, known to anti-trafficking
organisations in Kathmandu as ‘DB’, is known to exert considerable fear and
influence among civilians in Humla. He is a martial arts practitioner, say some
and “someone who follows you around if you come in his way” others. But the man
and his notoriety are an open secret among Humlis, child rights officers and
administrators in government and non-government bodies, who take his name easily
when discussed with about child trafficking. A child rights officer of the
District Child Welfare Board claims Phadera to “not have stopped trafficking
entirely” whereas an officer at the Central Child Welfare Board acknowledges his
reputation as a trafficker.
But aside from these sources,
Phadera’s history in trafficking has been previously reported in Saroj
Adhikari’s article ‘Bal Balika ko Rahasmaya Osaar Pasaar’ in the July 2006 issue
of Nepal magazine. Adhikari reports the stark discrepancy between the number of
children registered in a dozen schools in the Valley where Phadera claims to
have enrolled them, and the number actually present. “Details given by Dal
Phadera state 32 minors to have been enrolled in Pushpanjali Boarding School in
Taukhel, but the school’s teacher Sharada Lamichhane of the Accounts Department
claims 14 of them to be absent,” he writes.
Additional proof of
Phadera’s engagement in trafficking children comes from a group of children
rescued by the non-profit organisation Next Generation Nepal. Currently staying
at their children’s home in Balkot, 16-year-old Sravan Puri (name changed) gives
a heart-rending testimony of leaving home for Kathmandu when he was eight, being
taken in custody by Dal Phadera, and eventually forced to beg in the streets.
Similar testimonies have come from Sravan’s friends who now in their late teens,
were all victims of Phadera’s guile. “DB used to bring volunteers to the
orphanage in Mathatirtha, but he would take away all the goodies and stationary
items they would bring for us,” he shares of his days in the Mathatirtha
orphanage run under Phadera’s organisation Himali Anath Bal Bikas Kendra (Himali
Orphan Child Development Centre). Both the orphanage and the organisation
closed down in the year 2006 after the orphanage was discovered to have been run
illegally.
Put into custody for three days by the Nepal Police in
the same year, Phadera was released by the sheer weight of his political
influence, reports Adhikari, now with the Kantipur Daily. Current attempts to
contact the Humla police via telephone to inquire on following up with this case
were unsuccessful, whereas the Kathmandu police were not ready with a comment at
the time of publication.
In conversation with the Post, Phadera
claimed of not taking any money from parents in Humla. “I do not know who Dhiren
is, besides, when members of the UCPN (Maoist) party kidnapped me on charges of
several complaints of trafficking, it was done with political motives and for
character assassination,” he added, regarding an accusation by members of UCPN
(Maoist) of Humla in the year 2006-7. Interestingly, in a statement denying
charges from the UCPN (Maoist), Phadera quotes the name of a certain ‘Chakkra
Shahi’ as a trafficker, who is also named by a villager in the documentary Paper
Orphans produced by the Swiss humanitarian organisation Terre Des Hommes, to
have carried out similar activities of deceiving Humli parents and taking
children away.
The Human Trafficking and Transportation Control
Act (2007) and Regulation (2008)— as mentioned in the 2011 Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) report issued by the US Government in June this year—subjects
persons guilty of trafficking to 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment. Phadera has not
been subject to any such punishment.
This issue of families being
deceived by traffickers in the Karnali region has been addressed for the first
time in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The report also addresses
the impunity enjoyed by politically-connected perpetrators and the negative
effect it has had in the number of trafficking cases filed with the police. But
slow justice and a long wait before reunification remains the reality of most
families, who in their circumstances have unwittingly lost their
children.
Dhan Maya, Saraswati and Krishna wait for what
assistance can come from their local NGO and the DCWB in response to their
letter of appeal. Says the NGO officer who has been contacted by the CCWB for
coordination: “We have asked for institutional and strategic help in our letter
in response to the CCWB, but we have yet to send it.”
Posted on:
2011-07-21 02:58