Perilous journeys

Conflicts always lead to displacement of people and create conditions for human trafficking.

The recent freezing to death of an Indian-origin family of four on the Canadian border with the United States, a few metres away from the line, made international headlines . The unfortunate Patel family—the two parents and their two kids—had spent close to $100,000 paying smugglers to get them into America. The smugglers first got them on a tourist visa into Canada before trying to sneak them into the US. Several others succeeded in the attempt, but for reasons unknown, the Patel family froze to death in the open. What would have been the beginning of a new, albeit unpredictable life for the Patels in the US, turned out to be their undoing.