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          The SAARC Convention on trafficking should encompass all forms of human trafficking, including that of children and women.
The trafficking for the purpose of running circus and other forceful migration should also be incorporated in the Convention, said human rights activists at a talk programme on "SAARC Convention on Trafficking: Areas of Reform and Challenges in Implementation".
The talk programme was held in Kathmandu Friday, said a SAARC secretariat press release.
"The Convention must address the exploitation of labourers who were forced to migrate to another country and their rights of using their income," said Padma Mathema, programme officer of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal.
She also stated that there should be the support of civil society, government and non-government organisations to implement the programme.
Anil Pant, country director of Action Aid Nepal, said that there should be an effective mechanism and resources to translate the SAARC convention on trafficking into meaningful practice.
The Nepalese government and the political parties should go hand in hand and assess the reality to overcome the current problems in trafficking. Pant also called on all concerned to look at the issue of trafficking in the right perspective.
Superintendent of Police Parbati Thapa said that mutual coordination and cooperation among the peoples in the region could help reduce human trafficking. But it has been difficult to rehabilitate and reintegrate the victims in the society, which compel them to return to the same place, she said further.
The problem of budget is another challenge to control trafficking, she added.
Joint secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Nepal Shyam Sundar Sharma said there is a national enforcement programme to control women trafficking.
"But the ministry has always been asking the civil society and government and non-government organisations for their support and suggestion to update and amend the national action plan," Sharma added.
The SAARC Convention itself is not complete to address trafficking in persons. So, the civil society should take an initiative to overcome the challenges, he said.
Presenting a paper, General Secretary of National Human Rights Commission, Gopal Krishna Siwakoti said the SAARC Convention on Trafficking has failed to address the victims' rehabilitation and reintegration.
The SAARC Convention has addressed only the problem of trafficking in women and children and has failed to address the rights of getting citizenship of children born to an affected person, the recovery of their health and the ensuring of their rights, he added.
He also stressed the need to include the root cause of trafficking and said the trafficked person must not be detained or charged.
The states should provide protection and temporary residence permits to victims and witnesses during all legal proceedings, he said.