Yes, India can prevent trafficking; here is how

Trafficking continues to adversely influence global harmony and security, disrupting economies and compromising the well-being and security of all countries including India.

Trafficking of wildlife, cultural heritage, drugs and humans has been recorded globally. Human trafficking is a very serious concern and has been already prioritised globally and particularly in India.

Varied forms of trafficking have been recorded in India. People are trafficked for their organs, for sexual exploitation and forced labour. There is smuggling of migrants. 

According to the 2009 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the most common reason for human trafficking (79 per cent) is for sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls.

Women also made up the largest proportion of traffickers in 30 per cent of the countries which provided information on the gender of traffickers. In certain parts of the world, women trafficking women is the norm.

Offences related to trafficking of wildlife and biodiversity are often not considered serious despite the fact that poaching and dealing of natural life is seen as a terrible crime. Hence, weaker penal measures are observed.

This lack of interest and weaker enforcement has prompted tremendous hunting and dealing in wildlife over the last two decades, which permitted  business sectors such as the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China, to thrive.

Our ecosystems are being destroyed beyond repair due to such crimes and several wildlife species are being pushed to the edge of extinction. The global illegal trade in wildlife is now worth $19 billion annually. It is the fourth-biggest illegal market after drugs, counterfeit and human trafficking.

The trade-chain starts in forests and natural habitats. It includes locals, poachers and transporters, who are responsible for moving the wildlife across and out of a country.

Interest in curbing illegal wildlife trade and strengthening international frameworks has increased in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent focus on zoonotic diseases. Bats, pangolins and human beings are not natural co-habitants, as all but the latter are wild.

A species barrier prevents the transmission of pathogens between wild and non-wild species. But human beings are known to disrupt ecosystems, cut forests and eat wildlife.

The role of the public, non-profits, enforcement agencies and international organisations cannot be overemphasised in prevention of wildlife crimes.

Mass awareness, huge public funding and strict policies, along with globally coordinated enforcement are the keys to containing this menace and preventing another pandemic like COVID-19. But, there is no foolproof action plan yet to stop this illicit trade permanently.

Unless all governments come together for the security of their own countries, this illegal trade shall thrive.

Preventing trafficking

A few suggestions can be considered to check trafficking.

Systematic action: This illicit trade will continue unless stringent correction measures are taken within the system. The coordination of all agencies and authorities should be the first step. 

All departments should work efficiently but independently. Unless they pool their operations and make an effective action plan, there will not be any visible change in the current scenario.

Reliable data: The lack of authentic global data makes it hard for governments and international organisations to battle trafficking successfully. There has to be an immediate strengthening of the information collection system and encouragement of countries to acknowledge and report crimes diligently.

International cooperation: There must be strong international cooperation between law enforcement agencies of different countries and citizens committed to stopping the illicit trafficking of valuable art and antiquities, in-order to bring to light, various hidden deals.

The return of a 900-year-old sculpture to India, by UK authorities, in August 2018, was an excellent example of this.

Inter-departmental convergence: As the number of investigating departments increase so do gaps in performance. It is difficult to coordinate and perform effectively unless they operate in convergence for all cases.

Either a nodal agency to handle all the cases from facts to real time data, or a team comprising one or two members from each investigating authority can be formed for a strategic scrutiny of all cases.

Stringent punishments: There have to be stringent laws and legal actions against such crimes. The relatively low risk of trials has led to the increase of organised criminal groups utilising the gaps in the legal framework and feeble law enforcement and criminal justice systems.

Raise awareness: Information available on illicit trade has to be brought to light to alert people of how serious the concern is. This gradually shall enable policymakers and investigation agencies around the globe to create strong foundations of effective policy enforcement and an action plan can be formulated for their immediate response to such crimes accordingly.

Incentivising communities: There are many small-scale, opportunistic traders who are leads to bigger networks. These local traders are easily recognisable among their community and thus the role of locals and communities is inevitable and can be of great help to identify these networks.

Incentivising communities can encourage them to work in association with the authorities and help in making legal efforts more effective.

Undoubtedly, all governments have taken sufficient action to fight illicit trade. But they are mostly unorganised or inefficiently executed. To add to that, with time, criminal associations and networks have been able to respond swiftly and dynamically to avoid detection and get around law enforcement.

Now, it has reached a situation alarming enough for governments to re-evaluate their institutional capacities to counter illicit trade.

The suggestions mentioned here are small steps. But they can bring promising change to the current situation and thereby help us reach the goal of recognising and destroying transnational criminal trade associations and ending this trade chain permanently.

Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth  

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