Almost two months after a tidal wave devastated villages in Nepal, reconstruction was under way and about 45 children whose parents were missing were being cared for in Uttargaya. Aid workers warned that children in tent camps and temporary shelters were especially vulnerable to trafficking, including those separated from their families and those whose parents had survived but could no longer support them.

The reported trafficking routes ran through Kathmandu to India and, in some cases, China, where children could be exploited in domestic work, bars, circuses or prostitution. No figures were available for the number of children affected, although local aid agencies estimated that hundreds had been trafficked after the 2015 earthquake. Aid workers said the government was listening more closely to local organisations and had increased oversight, but they urged it to move more children from camps into shelters where they could be monitored and kept in school.