Rescued children join families
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Daniel Kameih

Tamenglong, June 08 2011: After three years of separation from their parents, 19 children including six girls and 13 boys from Manipur's Tamenglong district Wednesday joined with their parents and families.

The 19 children were among 25 who were rescued from Detheaba Children Home in Maharashtra's Karjat district by officials of the Tamenglong Child Welfare Committee, Manipur Social Welfare Department and Indigenous Women and Children Foundation (IWCF) .

According to the official team who brought the children, six children are still at the home in Maharashtra.

They were not brought back because their parents are yet to approach to the authority concerned.

If they do so, necessary step to bring back the children will be taken up they said asserting that the 19 children were rescued after their parents approached the authority.

They were taken away by persons who lured their parents and guardians with promises of good education sometime in 2007 .

The children, all from Mandeu village of Tamenglong's Tousem sub-division, were brought back to Tamenglong yesterday and handed over to the parents today in a simple ceremony held at Jaozian Children Home, Tamenglong.

Before handing over them to the parents, medical check up were conducted to the children by two doctors.

Doctors observed that the children were suffering from malnutrition and need to give medical attention.

Tamenglong DC who attended the children handing over function assured that the district administration will provide all assistants to rehabilitate the children.

The Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) who participated in the handing over ceremony also assured that free education facilities will be given to the children who are the victims of trafficking.

Social Welfare director, Sheityabati has yesterday said that the 19 children were rescued following a series of awareness campaigns conducted by the Social Welfare Department conducted in Tamei, Tousem and Tamenglong sub-divisions in the month of January and February of this year.

Child trafficking is another problem of the trouble ridden state, Manipur.

The highest number of child-trafficking cases in Manipur was recorded in 2010 last year with as many as 139 children from the state found trafficked to other states in the name of giving free education and jobs.

There were cases of 97 trafficked children in 2009, 22 children in 2008 and only five children in 2007 .

Among the districts of the state Tamenglong district is most affected by the child trafficking as most of the children rescued so from various unregistered children homes in South India were from interior village of Tamenglong district.

The Manipur government has also decided to set up anti-human trafficking cells in all the districts and envisages a greater role for police in checking the increasing trend of children being smuggled out of the state.

Minors are being regularly trafficked out of the state to other cities of the country by frauds on the false promise of free education.

Poor parents, who cannot send their children to schools, willingly hand over their wards to the frauds.

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