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RPF, UNICEF tie up in Bihar to save children from trafficking during Covid pandemic
In an online orientation session held by UNICEF in Bihar, policemen are being apprised about how to identify children who are vulnerable to trafficking or other kinds of abuse and exploitation especially at railway platforms.
UNICEF has begun a collaboration with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to prevent child trafficking in Bihar during the Covid-19 pandemic, UN body’s officials said Saturday.
The collaboration was initiated after it emerged that among the 25 lakh migrants from Bihar who returned to the state during the lockdown induced by Covid-19, there were thousands of children who had been trafficked to other states and were working as bonded labourers, officials said.
But since the lockdown norms have been relaxed, UNICEF officials suspect that traffickers are on the prowl to supply works to employers.
In an online orientation session held by UNICEF in Bihar, policemen are being apprised about how to identify children who are vulnerable to trafficking or other kinds of abuse and exploitation especially at railway platforms. The cops are also being told about the various kinds of treatments these children may need and whom to contact for their rehabilitation.
“The RPF has been rescuing children from traffickers for a long time. But Covid-19 and lockdown have made the situation complicated. Children are being targeted again and need to be protected,” said Mayank, Inspector General, RPF.
The RPF needs to be more vigilant in the current situation, he said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic compelled nearly 40 million people to migrate from one place to another. This population includes a large number of children. Unfortunately this situation has made many of them soft targets for traffickers as children are being lured to move to other cities for good earnings, said Shivendra Pandya, UNICEF director in Bihar.
“It is for the first time that RPF has collaborated with UNICEF for protection of children at railway platforms. The UNICEF has planned online orientation sessions to sensitize RPF officials and the first session was held on June 16 with the RPF of Sonepur division. In the next three four days we will interact with the RPF units of Samastipur, Dhanbad, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Danapur division,” said Gargi Saha from child protection unit of UNICEF Bihar.
Among the districts which have witnessed large cases of trafficking of children are Gaya, Nawada, Araria, Supaul, Katihar and Darbhanga, she said.
The RPF said it has rescued 2,163 children from 2017 till May 2020.
