3-day programme on human trafficking
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 23 2011: DIGP (HQs) Clay Khongsai, who is also holding the additional charge of SP Imphal East district, today said that all districts of Manipur were affected by human trafficking.

Children are the most vulnerable group as they were trafficked for bonded labour as well as child soldiers by UG groups, he said speaking at the opening function of the three-day training programme on human trafficking for police officers of Imphal East district held at the conference hall of the Imphal West district HQ.

Police need the people's corporation to control human trafficking, he said, assuring a more effective role of the police.

All district police personnel have been asked to be alert in responding to human trafficking cases, he added.

DIGP (Armed Police)-1 S Manglemjao divided the mode of illegal trafficking into three categories as Drug Trafficking, Armed Smuggling and Human Trafficking and asserted it is a rare case for the state to face all these cases at the same time.

But, Manipur is facing all these modes of trafficking, he said noting the seriousness of the menace in the state.

The state is one of the routes for drug trafficking from the Golden Triangle, he reminded.

Manipur has been facing drug abuse since 1970 and a grave situation has arrived he said estimating that probably three truck loads of SP capsules are being abused in a day by the state youth.

While this menace is yet to be controlled, human trafficking and armed smuggling has come to the fore.

Twenty-five police officers of various ranks from ASI to DSP are participating in the training programme in which K Saroja Devi of the state Social Welfare Department talked as resource person on the topic "Human Trafficking- Magnitudes, Dimensions Emerging Trends and Challenges" .

The programme was part of a series of training programmes being conducted in the state for the police personnel.

A report produced by the Manipur police at the inaugural session of the three-day training programme indicates rescue of 246 children of the state from being trafficked.

Sixty children who were missing since the early part of 2008 still remains untraced.

They might have been recruited as child soldiers by different UG groups, according to a record.

Seventy-two children were rescued in 2008-09, 76 in 2009-10 and 98 in 2010-11 till March.

They were rescued by police, NGOs and other civil societies, the report maintained.

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