Orphan trafficking ring stopped by Indian High Court

An Indian court has begun legal action against orphanages that are supposedly sending large numbers of children into the southern Indian state of Kerala from northern states that are more impoverished.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The kerala High Court directed the state government to make available a detailed report which provides full information on the orphanages and their residents within a month.

Help feed hungry kids like these.

The court wants data on the orphanages, including state and privately run institutions, and has asked the government if it has any oversight over the running of these orphanages.

Kerala's High Court intervened in May, after police found 578 children that were brought in from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar, bound for orphanages in Kerala.

Indian police filed charges of child trafficking against two orphanages run by a Muslim charity organization.

Officials said that hundreds of children are trafficked in order to receive financial aid and subsidized food from the state government. These children also create jobs in privately run state-subsidized schools, where the state pays the salaries.

Sebastian Paul, a former parliamentarian and lawyer, said that the state has been ineffective in stopping these child trafficking schemes, but with the orphanages under the watchful eyes of the court, the trafficking should stop.

"It is a landmark judicial move to protect child rights. Many orphanages are run for profit and are receiving huge foreign donations. Now the government would be forced to control such malpractices," Paul said.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'