World · South & Central Asia · 8 hrs ago
Nepal flood survivors warn of rising risk of child trafficking
Nearly two months after a devastating flood wave hit Nepal, people are still rebuilding destroyed villages and waiting in temporary camps.
In Uttargaya, about 45 children whose parents are missing are being cared for at a makeshift shelter.
Aid workers say children who are alone, separated from family or left without money for care and schooling are especially vulnerable.
They warn that traffickers exploit disasters, using promises of education or work to take children away from their communities.
Children may be moved through Kathmandu and across Nepal’s open border with India, or taken to China, where some face forced work or sexual exploitation.
Local aid workers say the government has allowed fewer outside aid groups this time, giving relief efforts more oversight, but they want more children moved from camps into supervised shelters.
At the Uttargaya shelter, children are being helped to continue their schooling while their families and homes remain out of reach.
Nearly two months after a destructive flash flood swept away villages in Nepal, aid workers warn that children who lost or became separated from family face a heightened risk of trafficking.
About 45 children whose parents are missing are being cared for in Uttargaya, a town in the disaster area.
Children in crowded temporary camps can be hard to monitor, making them vulnerable to traffickers, aid workers say.
Families who lost their livelihoods may also feel driven to hand children over to untrustworthy people.
Aid workers want the government to move more children from tents into supervised shelters.
- Who
- Children affected by the floods in Nepal, and aid workers warning of trafficking risks.
- What
- Aid workers say children separated from family or left in poverty face increased trafficking risks after the floods.
- When
- Nearly two months after the flood wave.
- Where
- Uttargaya and other parts of Nepal affected by the disaster.
- Why
- Displacement, family separation and poverty leave children vulnerable, while crowded camps can make them difficult to monitor.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Local aid organisations estimated that hundreds of children were trafficked during the earthquake.
A destructive flood wave swept away villages in Nepal.
NOS reported that aid workers were warning of increased trafficking risks for children after the floods.
- Children in care
- About 45 in Uttargaya
- Time since flood
- Nearly two months
- Earlier disaster
- 2015 earthquake
- Trafficking figures
- No figures are available for the current disaster
What people are saying
The tents with large logos of aid organisations on them are a kind of target for human traffickers.
Nepal has an open border with India, where they are taken via Kathmandu and then trafficked further.
They no longer have money to support their children or send them to school.
Children end up in special Nepalese bars to work or they end up in prostitution.