Traffickers target tribal children from A.P., 4 other States

The poor and illiterate people of the Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are easy prey for traffickers who are luring them with job offers.

“More than 200 tribal folk, particularly children and women, were trafficked in the last few years, of which 50% were children aged between 8 and 15 years. Taking advantage of the poverty and illiteracy among the tribes and adivasis, mediators are exploiting them,” an NGO organiser said.

The rescue of six tribal children of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh on February 25 once again exposed the trafficking of poor tribal people to plain areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. About 20 youth of the same place were also found travelling to Salem for work. All the rescued, including five minor boys and a girl of Jagdalpur, belong to Gond tribe and were engaged as bonded labourers.

On February 27, the railway police rescued four tribal children near Visakhapatnam and they were also found to be from the agency areas in Chhattisgarh.

Bus intercepted

On a tip-off, an NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) along with the CID police, intercepted a private bus going from Jagdalpur to Tamil Nadu and rescued the victims. Police took two alleged traffickers, Mithilesh and Kiran, into custody on February 25.

“BBA Jagdalpur coordinator Sandeep observed the movements of the traffickers in the tribal hamlets and alerted us, and we rescued the children with the help of AP CID and the Ibrahimpatnam police,” said State BBA coordinator G. Tirupati Rao.

Network in hamlets

In 2016, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials raided an NGO campus at Nidamarru in Krishna district and rescued 35 tribal children, natives of Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In the same year, an NGO Saathi rescued 13 Gond tribe girls. They were from Kishangunj district in Bihar and Kanker district of Chhattisgarh.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) rescued 15 tribal girls of Odisha at the Vijayawada railway station and took the alleged trafficker, Reena, into custody in February 2017. The girls were engaged in a spinning mill at Timmapuram village in Guntur district.

“Last year, a city-based NGO rescued 12 tribal girls aged between 10 and 14 years,” the CWC members said.

A police officer preferring anonymity said the mediators developed contacts with the suppliers in tribal hamlets in Jagdalpur, Kanker, Malkangiri, Visakhapatnam Rural and other places, who were paid ₹5,000 and above per head.

Horrible conditions

“The working conditions are horrible. We have to stay in sheds and work for more than 18 hours a day. There are no medical facilities, toilets and bathrooms. In some places, security personnel and dogs prevented us from leaving or seeking help,” said a minor boy.

Mr. Tirupati Rao said there were instances of exploitation of minor girls at work spots. The government should step up vigil on trafficking through trains, buses and private vehicles. Police, Revenue, Labour, Women Development and Child Welfare, Education and other department officials should conduct raids to prevent trafficking of tribal children, the BBA State coordinator said.