AMRAT

 (Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking),

AMRAT Regional Meet at Jashpur, Chattishgarh, India

16^th Feb – 19^th

Pope Francis said . “Trafficking in persons is a despicable activity, a disgrace to our society that calls itself 'civilized'!” He called upon the international community to find “effective initiatives and new approaches for safeguarding their dignity, improving their quality of life and for facing the challenges emerging from modern forms of persecution, oppression and slavery.” (Pope Francis, Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, May 24, 2013)

Trafficking between Indian states is rising due to increased mobility, rapid urbanization, and a growth in a number of industries that use forced labor such as construction, textiles, etc. An increasing number of job placement agencies lure adults and children for sex trafficking or forced labor, including domestic servitude, under false promises of employment. Chattishgarh is one of the states of origin from where women, children and girls are being trafficked. It is the fact to note  that  there are AMRAT members, the  women religious actively work against trafficking in persons  by creating awareness, rescuing and rehabilitating the trafficked persons.

 As  planned  the IXth AMRAT Meet  was held for the regional coordinators, executive members and sisters  working for this  cause. The meeting was  in  Asha Deep, the Social Service Society , the Jesuit centre at Pathalgaon in Jaspur district in Chattishgarh.  There were 20 sisters from 10 congregations from Mumbai, Delhi, Jharkhand  and Chattishgarh.

Srs.Annie Jesus and Emelda FMM welcomed  the sisters  with  colourful  traditional tribal dance  of the place performed by animators and the students of Kansabel .They beautifully enacted the evolution of tribals history and their development in their lives by the interventions of missionaries. The meeting began with official welcome by Sr.Sahaya FMM the president of AMRAT.

Rev.Fr.Agapit Tirkey .S.J. the resource person of the day dealt with topic on Safe migration. He explained about the trafficking  and unsafe migration leading to sex trade and labour exploitations. 

On the 2nd day  Srs.Jyoti BS and Sr.Sahaya FMM briefed about the history of AMRAT with the help of video clips and power point pretensions. Then the regional coordinators presented their report which was   inspiring. The group discussion  brought in a variety of insights and reflections which led to the Action Plan for the year.

At the end of the meeting all the participants expressed their joy of being part of AMRAT and promised to extend their collaboration in implementation of the action plan.

At  every night documentaries on human trafficking was viewed to the participants.

Each person forced into slavery has a unique story—a story of struggles, hopes and dreams.

This  is what  we witnessed as we heard the tearful stories of the young girls who were trafficked  and rescued by  Sr.Annie FMM and her staff .During the exposure visit we interacted with these girls. It was heart breaking to hear their sad stories.

All the participants appreciated the great work carried out by the FMM sisters at Kansable in spite of all the hardships and opposition even to the extent of threat to their lives. The meeting ended with the short picnic to the Sangam.

Let our prayer be............(Proverbs 31:8-9) teaches us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Thanks to Sr.Annie FMM and her community for organising such inspiring exposure visit and meeting.