THIRTY-EIGHT Bangladeshi children stranded at a safe-home in South Dinajpur in West Bengal made a plea to the government to arrange their repatriation to end their suffering away from home. They seem to be victims of human trafficking and are sheltered by a local NGO from one to two years. More surprising is that the number of such victims is on rise almost on daily basis. The minor boys in question were detained by Indian Border Security Force and police, as they were found moving without passports. But since they are minors and found not involved in any crime, they were handed over to safe-home without police case. But their repatriation remains hanging in balance since no such initiative is coming from the India and Bangladesh side. It appears that our High Commission in Delhi and the Deputy High Commission in Kolkata are taking little care of the agonies of the children despite the stories of their plight are making headlines on regular basis. Our diplomats are busy in luxurious life taking hefty salary and allowances while working on issues that basically serves Indian interest. They have no time to rescue poor Bangladeshi children. Shubhayon functionaries claimed a list of the stranded children was sent to different offices of the state government few days ago for action leading to their repatriation to Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the disclosure by the NGO that nine more minor boys added to the detainees in the safe home is quite alarming. Another news report on Tuesday said six minors from Dhaka’s Sadarghat slums were detained on the Indian side across the Hilly border of Dinajpur district few days back. They claimed they went on a visit to see India but it may be a framed story being taught by the traffickers. Since the repatriation move is not working, the Society for Participatory Action and Reflection (SPAR), another voluntary organization in West Bengal has sent a letter this time as news report on Tuesday said requesting intervention of Bangladesh Prime Minister to bring the boys back. What appears most worrying is the growing number of children, being trafficked and in many cases abandoned that we believe must work as eye opener for safety of our children. The government is busy preparing the list of missing people supposed to have joined the Jihadists. But who will make similar list of children regularly missing whose limbs and other parts of bodies are what make them most precious merchandise for organ plantation in Indian hospitals. Since all detainees are boys, the suspicion runs equally high.India-Bangladesh border is highly dangerous as BSF shoot and kill people on sight and yet how minors can cross border is the big question. This is a crucial question of protecting our children. We ask the government to stop it.
