Kathmandu: One thousand six hundred and seventy-nine persons who had fallen prey to human trafficking have been rescued from various countries, including Nepal, in the last five years.

Nepal Police, Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau said this many victims of human trafficking were rescued from fiscal year 2019/20 to 2023/24.

Bureau Chief, Senior Superintendent of Police Jeevan Kumar Shrestha said among those rescued, 1,134 were rescued by the police offices in various districts.

Five hundred and forty-four persons were rescued at the initiatives of the Bureau alone.

One thousand and seventy-eight among those rescued are women and 605 are men.

Shrestha said 214 people who were the victims of human trafficking were rescued in fiscal year 2022/23 while 336 were rescued in fiscal year 2023/24.

As he said the incidences of trafficking in persons are increasing in the name of foreign employment.