Media Release

Bengaluru, Nov 30: The ninth annual meet cum capacity building of AMRAT (Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking) took place at Indian Social Institute (ISI), Benson Town, Bengaluru. 105 participants from various women religious congregations assembled for the promotion of human dignity and protection of rights under the colossal organization of AMRAT.

The three-day convention focused on empowering its members in order to be effective in their mission. The inaugural function gave an apt initiation to ignite the entire gathering in the presence of archbishop of the archdiocese Bernard Moras, director ARISE Foundation London, Luke, provincial of Karnataka Province, Fr Jerome Stanislaus SJ, president of AMRAT, Sr Arpan, director of the organization on missing citizens, Fr Edward Thomas SDB. Org, and member of the expert committee POCSO ACT 2012, provincial of SMI Bengaluru province Sr Gracy George, provincial of Good Shepherd south west India and member of justice and peace commission Sr Teresa Meera, director Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru, Fr Selvaraj and the executive team AMRAT.

The gathering also greatly acknowledged the presence of the local hosts administrator of ISI, Fr Francis D’Souza SJ, Fr Martin SJ.

Dr Bernard Moras in his keynote address noted that God created human beings in His own image and likeness and how distortion has become the concern for the modern day society based on grounds of ethical and moral dimensions and how it is politicized in some situations. He appreciated the activities carried on by the members of AMRAT and expressed the church’s concern to address the issue of human trafficking pointing out how Pope Francis himself is engaged in reaching out to the victims of modern day slavery. He assured that the church appreciates the initiatives of AMRAT and will stand by its members in their noble mission.

Former president, Sr Sahaya Mary FMM presented a glimpse of the history of AMRAT in order to connect everyone to the past and present status of AMRAT.

During the three-day meeting various topics were dealt with at length by efficient resource persons. Fr Edward Thomas SDB spoke on www.missingcitizens.org, retired IAS officer, Lukos shared his experience in the field of human trafficking and elaborated on the issue of child labour. A benefactor who supported the programme, Luke Pulford of ARISE Foundation shared his experience and motivated the gathering to network more fervently, to tackle the social evil and offered to collaborate in this Mission with AMRAT. The documentary Rise Up produced by Luke in collaboration with Talitha Kum stirred the hearts of all the participants and help to understand the realities of the victims of trafficking. Experts from the International Justice Mission (IJM) Mumbai, Mervyn D’Mello, Jonita Britto, Ruth Thomas and Sumith Unni efficiently dealt with 'Until all are free – Biblical view on justice, ending slavery through legal action and bonded labour'. They facilitated deeper comprehension on the issue and triggered everyone’s conscience for greater commitment.

Deputy commissioner of north division Bengaluru, Chetan Singh Rathore paid a courtesy visit to the AMRAT members and addressed the gathering. He explained in detail the two major rescue operations done during his tenure as DSP of Bellary district of Karnataka. He said that it was the first of its kind in India where maximum accused were put behind bars. He also expressed his grief where police personnel are unable to follow up and see the end results the desire of having more networks like AMRAT to care for the people who are enslaved and create awareness in the civil society to combat the modern day slavery – human trafficking.

For an overview of all that happened during the year, the regional coordinators presented regional reports. Treasurer of AMRAT, Sr Cynthia Cardoza presented the financial report of 2016-2017.

At the end of the three day regional action, plans were evolved based on the issues dealt with during the meeting for a focused intervention in the work areas of the members. An evaluation of the meeting gave a direction for future focus.

The splendid moments of togetherness wrapped up with a note of gratitude by the president, Sister Arpan BS who acknowledged the strong backing of the executive team, support of the members, well wishers and benefactors. The ninth annual general body meeting cum capacity building was officially closed with the blessings of the founding president Sr Jyoti BS.