Child trafficking may rise post lockdown, warns CRY

Child rights body CRY has warned against huge numbers of unsafe migrations and child trafficking in the post-lockdown period. Previous experiences suggest that there is multi-fold increase in vulnerabilities immediately after any large scale humanitarian crisis, the statement said. There have been massive livelihood issues in the last few months, escalated by the pandemic and back to back natural disasters like cyclones in West Bengal and Maharashtra, locust attacks in central India and floods in Assam and Bihar. Hence, the fear is, that the coming months will witness huge numbers of unsafe migrations and child trafficking. Cases of trafficking and missing children were less prevalently reported during the lockdown months primarily due to suspension of transport, and movement of people. However, trafficking may eventually increase as the country enters the unlock phase, experts suggest.