Vulnerability to Human Trafficking in Nepal from Enhanced Regional Connectivity

Abstract

Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. It is a form of modern-day slavery that involves the recruitment, harboring, or transportation of people into an exploitative situation by means of violence, deception, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. In Nepal, the most widespread forms of human trafficking are for forced labor, domestic servitude, prostitution and sexual exploitation, and organ extraction. The country’s open borders with India, and to some extent China, with limited border surveillance, have enabled transnational crimes such as human trafficking. The World Bank has extended technical and financial assistance to large-scale infrastructure projects in Nepal, some for improved transport connectivity and trade facilitation both within the country and within the region. The nature of these investments must be looked at through the lens of enhancing long-term economic growth and prosperity, which is jeopardized by human trafficking. As a result, this study was conducted to draw links between the various aspects of development projects, in particular, improved transport connectivity and migration, that either contribute, mitigate, facilitate, or prevent trafficking in men, women, and children.