UN seeks end to human trafficking

By Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Delhi

Many South Asian children end up in indentured labour

A UN initiative to fight human trafficking has been launched in the Indian capital, Delhi.

The global campaign is aimed at achieving a turning point in the fight against trafficking.

Millions of people around the world are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labour, many of them children.

The UN estimates the annual trade is worth $32bn. South Asia is second only to South East Asia as the region with the highest prevalence of trafficking.

Goals

Every day in South Asia children and young women are lured or taken from their homes with promises of a job, marriage or a place in the entertainment industry.

Key source and destination nations in human trafficking Enlarge Map

Instead, they end up in the sex trade or as forced labour.

India is the hub of this trade, with organised crime syndicates trafficking women and children both within the country and from across the border in Nepal or Bangladesh.

These are the findings of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime which is at the centre of the new global initiative to combat trafficking.

It brings together government officials, law enforcement agencies, business leaders and representatives from the media and entertainment industry.

The idea is both to share best practices and raise funds in the hope that it can help turn a corner in the fight against trafficking.

The two-day conference is expected to draw up a timeframe and also set goals to be achieved over the next few years.