UPSC REVISION: TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS (PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION) BILL 2018

22. Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE:

Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 (eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and end child labour by 2025)

According to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2016.

Trafficking in human beings is the third largest organised crime which violates basic rights.

Trafficking is a development issue and threatens to have trade implications as US law restricts the import of goods produced with forced labour; Australia is contemplating a similar law.

FDI could also be negatively impacted. 

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE

UN Protocol on Trafficking in 2000

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air 2000 (smuggling protocol)

UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime

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Human Trafficking: the crime of buying and selling people, or making money from work they are forced to do, such as sex work.

मानव तस्कारी

The Bill contains provisions to ensure prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation of trafficked persons. Key features of the Bill are: 

Forms of trafficking covered: The Bill seeks to cover aggravated forms of trafficking including trafficking for the purpose of: (i) forced labour, (ii) begging, and (iii) marriage. 

Confidentiality: The Bill seeks to ensure confidentiality of: (i) victims, witnesses, and complainants by not disclosing their identity, and (ii) victims by recording their statements through video conferencing. 

Time-bound trial: The Bill seeks to complete trial as well as securing return of the victims within one year from taking up the matter. Special courts will be designated in each district for speedy trial of matters. 

Rehabilitation of victims: The Bill seeks to extend relief to rescued victims to address their physical and mental trauma. Rehabilitation of victims will not be dependent upon initiating criminal proceedings against the accused. 

Rehabilitation fund: The Bill seeks to create a rehabilitation fund to be used for the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of the victim. This will include education, skill development, health care, and legal aid. 

Institutional support: Nodal agencies will be created at the district, state and central level. These will be responsible for prevention, protection, investigation, and rehabilitation work. The National Investigation Agency will perform the tasks of the Anti-Trafficking Bureau at the national level. 

Punishment: Punishment for trafficking will range from a minimum rigorous imprisonment of 10 years to life imprisonment, along with a fine of at least Rs one lakh.

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Critical Analysis of Bill

India has a complex patchwork of anti-trafficking laws, ranging from the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), 1986, to social welfare legislation on contract and bonded labour, and inter-state migrant work. Present bill creates a plethora of new institutions with unclear roles, capacious powers (including for surveillance) and no accountability, alongside a parallel adjudication machinery with special courts and special public prosecutors. There is no clarity on how the Bill relates to the ITPA and to labour laws.

In a recent statement, scholars, activists and workers’ rights groups argued against extending a criminal law, raid-rescue-rehabilitation model beyond sex work to other labour sectors. They called instead for a multi-faceted legal and economic strategy; robust implementation of labour laws; a universal social protection floor; self-organisation of workers; improved labour inspection, including in the informal economy; and corporate accountability for decent work conditions. They also reiterated the need for systemic reforms to counter distress migration, end caste-based discrimination, enforce the rural employment guarantee legislation, avoid the indiscriminate rescue of voluntary sex workers, and protect migrants’ mobility and rights.

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Last year, India protested against the release of a report, ‘Global estimates of modern slavery: forced labour and forced marriage GEMS’, a collaborative effort of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Walk Free Foundation, and the International Organisation for Migration. The report estimated that there were 40.3 million “modern slaves” worldwide in 2016, with 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriages. It did not name countries, but the writing on the wall was clear as 17,000 interviews had been conducted in India, and 61.78% of the “modern slaves” were in Asia and the Pacific.