Due to unemployment in Pakistan, there is a trend to go for overseas employment. Innocent people, including a large number of students, are defrauded by those who take advantage of the these innocent persons. This issue is termed as human trafficking and the Emigration Ordinance 1979 empowers FIA to deal with the problem.
Human Trafficking means obtaining, securing, selling, purchasing, recruiting, detaining, harboring or receiving a person, not with standing his implicit or explicit consent, by the use of coercion, kidnapping, abduction, or by giving or receiving any payment or benefit, or sharing or receiving a share for such persons subsequent transportation out of or into Pakistan by any means whatsoever for any of the purposes laid down by law.
The Federal Investigation Agency is Pakistan’s premier investigation agency, which deals with multifaceted serious and organized crimes like Immigration, Anti-human Trafficking, Anti-corruption, Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, Cyber Crime, Money Laundering etc.
Deputy Director of Federal Investigation Agency Gujranwala Khalid Anees told The Educationist Staff Reporter Arslan Mughal that FIA Gujranwala registers 1709
cases against human traffickers in 2015-16. “A large number of people want to go abroad belong to Gujranwala division and majority of unlicensed travelling agents also belong to Gujranwala division. This makes Gujranwala circle – established on 01-07-2004 – to provide services to the people.”
Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour. The largest human trafficking problem is bonded labour, concentrated in the Sindh and especially Punjab provinces in agriculture and brick making, and to a lesser extent in mining and carpet-making. Estimates of bonded labour victims, including men, women, and children, vary widely, but are likely well over one million.
In extreme scenarios, when laborers speak publicly against abuse, landowners have kidnapped laborers and their family members, khalid Anees added. To cope with the problems, Government of Pakistan has enacted various laws such Immigration Ordinance 1979, Passport Act 1974, Foreigner Act 1946, Prevention and control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002, beside these laws, this circle was meant to take cognizance of violators of IPR, FER, ETO, Spurious Drugs and some specific provision of Pakistan panel code as well.
Pakistan serves as a source, transit and a destination country for migrants and traffickers due to its porous Iran and Afghanistan borders. It serves both as a destination and transit for Afghani, Bangladeshis and people from other neighboring countries, who use it as a transit to get through to Western Europe, he said. However, 95 per cent of Pakistani migrants are in Middle East for work. Our deportees also hail from the Gulf States, mainly due to reasons of overstaying. While talking with The Educationist Khalid Anees said that the Mandi Bahauddin and Gujrat are very notorious for illegal agent who do their business of human trafficking or smuggling to Europe. In this regard illegal agents use unfrequented routes for trafficking to Europe/Greece Via Iran and Turkey.
Ultimately a sub Circle at Gujrat which controls the problem of the human smuggling and try to break the networks of such agents .