“Trafficking-related complicity by government officials remained a serious problem in Nepal, with traffickers using ties to politicians, business persons, state officials, police, customs officials, and border police to facilitate trafficking,” a statement from the US Embassy quoted the report.
The report entitled Trafficking in Persons Report added that there were no investigations, prosecutions or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking.
Releasing the report on Monday in Washington DC, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it “a catalogue of tragedies that the world cannot continue to accept.”
“Human trafficking crosses cultures and continents,” she said. “I´ve met survivors of trafficking and their families, along with brave men and women in both the public and the private sector who have stood up against this terrible crime. All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end.”
The report recommends that the Nepal government increase law enforcement efforts against all types of trafficking and against government officials who are complicit in trafficking.
In addition, the report has asked the government to institute a formal procedure to identify trafficking victims and refer them to protection services, improve protection services and put in place more effective tracking mechanisms for both sex and labor trafficking cases.
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