It is proven that India is a major source of human trafficking, a trade that affects 13 million children worldwide every year. According to the Global Slavery Index, every year 35 thousand Indian children end up in the network of human traffickers. It seems that the data is underestimated, as most of these children do not have a birth certificate, therefore legally "they do not exist". Research carried out by the National Crime Records Bureau (Nerb, an Indian government agency) records a 250% increase in human trafficking in the last 3 years. Constant migration from neighboring Bangladesh and Covid are responsible for this.

Millions of children pass through Calcutta and are kidnapped, transported, sold, and forcibly placed into the world of child prostitution, forced labor, slavery, or sold for organ harvesting. Teenage girls are locked up and exploited as "brood mares" to resell the children on the black market.

Children in a state of emergency, reported and identified through the Childline* (a kind of blue telephone) and thanks to the widespread and intense work carried out by our specialized staff, are promptly rescued and taken to our safe shelters.

Between 2018 and 2020, Skychildren renovated two buildings to accommodate these children in difficulty and guarantee them an immediate safe place (by law boys and girls must reside in separate facilities).These two shelters can accommodate and protect 50 girls and 50 boys at the same time, arriving to host around 850 in each structure in a year, always for short periods.

These two shelters can accommodate and protect 50 girls and 50 boys at the same time, accommodating around 850 of them in each structure in a year. They were selected as a national reference Pilot Project by the Government, which therefore decided to contribute financially in minimal part in the management of the refuge for basic needs (only food and minimal clothing). Even during the strictest lock down periods, both facilities remained open, as they were defined by the Government as "strategic and of vital importance for the most vulnerable children".

According to Indian law and the Charter of Children's Rights - 1989 - the primary aim of saving a child in difficulty is always family reunification, as the family is the most suitable place for a child to grow up. Unfortunately, in India the Government has never invested resources in this process, which in many cases is very complex and costly, yet remains the only guarantee for true long-term salvation. Faced with children who have been "prisoners" for years in public institutions (where they are sent once saved, if the family does not claim them), we understood that this void could only be filled by a third party, such as Skychildren. We have therefore mobilized to activate a dedicated team of specialized operators,who can take charge of even the most difficult cases, which normally remained unsolved.

Once the child has been rescued in one of the two temporary shelters that we support, the assistants try to make him express, in order to reconstruct his story: he is provided with Psychological support in order to better manage the trauma suffered and start him towards a path of physical recovery and emotional in view of family reunification. At this point, a demanding and expensive search for the family of origin begins by our social workers to reunite the abducted and missing children with their families,in the shortest possible time to avoid prolonging the trauma or even risks of re-victimization, following protocols established by Indian law. This transition can last a few days, several weeks, or months, depending on the state in which the children are found, the conditions of the family (which may also reside in another state) or the possible need to place them in permanent structures. In some cases, the possibility of foster care or adoption opens up for the child.

The family and the child remain, for as long as necessary (it can mean months or sometimes even a year), under the guidance and control of our social workers, who return regularly to ensure that the minor is not exposed to danger again.