MERCHANTS OF DEATH

Sad but true, human smuggling is a trade in which Indian youth have been bought and sold as literal slaves like any other commercial merchandise recently in Iraq. These horror stories emerged recently when about 15 Indian youth returned from Baghdad to recount these chilling and shocking stories. Baffling and mesmerizing, these are not movie stories but are real life accounts which hit you beyond oblivion.

Gullible, semi-literate, economically weak and under-privileged youth are tempted by human trafficking agents with promises of dollars and rich fortunes to go abroad. They sell ancestral lands, mortgage family property, pawn jewellery and force family members to incur loans for financing the foreign trip of their dreams. Destination nowhere is all set. The purpose is earning wealth. The means to secure foreign passage is immaterial. The trafficking agents extract and extort full advance payment in cash and sell them to death merchants while these gullible youth are still lost in their dreams of foreign pastures.

These innocent youth board flights to unknown destinations and land in the hands of human sharks who trade them for profit. In the recent case, innocent youth proceeded to Baghdad from Dubai and were resold to sub-agents. Their assignments were phenomenal. Under the watchful eyes of AK 47 toting guards, they were forced to clear explosives from agricultural fields in which remnants of the 2003 Gulf war i.e. Bombs, rockets, shells, missiles, cartridges and other ammunition were scattered. With bare hands, these youth were to run after tractors which unearthed these deadly explosive materials and thereafter physically pick them up to clear the fields for agricultural plantation. Any resistance was severely dealt with. Passports were confiscated and locked.

The working conditions of the Indian youth were pathetic and bone chilling. No defined working hours, no wages, no protective equipment or gear and no contact with the outside world. 20 youth were cramped in a single room with inedible meagre food, limited water and no toilet facilities. Beatings, physical assault and painful cigarette stubs were inflicted as a routine. Any protest fetched further inhuman treatment and more torture.

The story in hell in Iraq continued for almost eight months till desperate youth made contact with the Indian media which publicized their plight. The Punjab and Haryana High Court intervened upon an application in a Public Interest Litigation and issued directions to the Government of India on 12 August to act promptly before there is any loss of life. Resultantly, some of the youth were abandoned on streets by panicky agents of death who feared retribution. These harassed and intimidated youth reached the Indian Embassy in Baghdad and ultimately managed to return back to India to narrate their woeful plight. Today, they are shattered but happy and lucky to be alive. They say that there are many more like them, trapped, helpless and disadvantaged with no help.

In a modern day scenario, the story is unbelievable but shockingly it is true. It seems baffling and revolting that it has happened. Exploitation, abuse, torture, material gain are elements which were mixed with it. Those who came back are happy to be alive. Those who will come back will be lucky to return. But, for how long and till when will this go on. Human Smuggling, unfortunately is not defined as an offence or a wrong under any Indian law. The Government of Punjab took the initiative of enacting “The Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2010” which was passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on 1 October 2010 and sent for Presidential assent in accordance with the provisions of Article 254 (2) of the Constitution of India. Till date the status of the Bill is unknown. At the Central level, there is no statutory enactment of the Government of India which attempts to define or punish this menace of human smuggling. It is thus, a lawless proposition. Today, law does not consider it a specific offence and the business goes on.

Experience shows that all dubious travel agents booked under the offence of cheating defined in the Indian Penal Code find no conviction under criminal law. There is no documentary evidence of money changing hands and the loosely phrased offence escapes the noose of punishment. The trapped and defrauded youth, if alive, is happy is a portion of the illegal cash amount is refunded. The matter is compromised, the case is buried and the agent returns to catch more innocent youth for business trading. The merchants of death continue unabated without fear or favour. Law turns a blind eye. However, the judicial intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court saved precious lives and about 64 youth returned home. Had this not happened, the youth may have not survived. Kudos to the Court for this.

In this milieu, what is to be done and what can stop this menace. The prognosis is two fold. One is legal and the other is social. It is time that the Parliament seriously endeavoured to enact a Central law defining human smuggling and its dangerous parameters which engulf society and feast on innocent youth daily. The long arm of law must reach out with its tentacles to capture those who indulge in this business of human trafficking. Till a law is made, the trade flourishes with impunity.

At the same time, the social issue is paramount. Indoctrination to youth whether in Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Punjab or Kerala is concerned, the message is common. Find meaningful resources of self employment or vocational avenues at home. If you have to travel or migrate, use legal means. Beware of pitfalls and traps. Do not adopt unethical means. Undertake proper documentation and do valid paper work before you depart. Do not venture into dubious and unethical pastures of illegal immigration. Take a meaningful decision and do not be led by verbal promises or rosy pictures. Likewise, meaningful campaigns and publicity of migrating the right way would be advantageous. The efforts of Punjab State Legal Services Authority (PSLSA) in carrying out a campaign & training brand Ambassadors to carry the message is meaningful exercise & will save precious lives of fresh innocent victims.

It is also time, that the Government seriously remedied the situation. Official agencies particularly the Consular Sections of Indian Embassies abroad must be pro active. They must reach out to Indian citizens in distress. The External Affairs and the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministries must not be silent spectators. They must rise to the occasion. Indian citizens abroad must be rescued and not be permitted to be traded like slaves. This is offensive against human dignity. It is time that the step forward must be taken to remedy the situation. The efforts of the Court and the PSLSA must not go waste.