United Nations urges nations to take steps to curb human trafficking

United Nations urges nations to take steps to curb human trafficking
Dharam Shourie, New York:

The UN has asked governments to take "serious" steps and coordinated action to eliminate human trafficking, warning virtually no country is safe from the scourge which mainly claims women and children as its victims.Millions have fallen victim and face sexual exploitation or forced labour, a new report by the world body said.The report, released yesterday, divides countries into five categories as far as origin, transit and destination are concerned - very high, high, medium, low and very low.India, along with Pakistan and Nepal is grouped among countries with high incidence of origin for human trafficking.As transit points for human trafficking, India is in the medium category along with the UK and Russia. On the other end of the scale, Pakistan and Nepal are in the 'very low' group.As destination countries, India and Pakistan are in the 'high' category while nations like the US and Germany find themselves in the 'very high' list.According to the report, Asia is both origin and destination region for trafficking in human beings with victims trafficked to countries like India and Pakistan."The fact that this form of slavery still exists in the 21st century shames us all," UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said releasing the report.The report identifies 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries. It shows that global efforts to combat trafficking are being hampered by a lack of accurate data, reflecting the unwillingness of some countries to acknowledge that the problem affects them.