FIA faces issues in curbing human trafficking

LAHORE: The unfortunate incident of a boat sinking in which majority of the people out of the total 90, including over a dozen Pakistanis, died in the deep sea off the coast of Libya has left many questions unanswered regarding Pakistan’s fight against illegal human trafficking. The loss of precious lives of Pakistanis while in search of better living is an eye opener for the authorities concerned that the ugly business of human trafficking in Pakistan is flourishing instead of being controlled.

Hardly a couple of months earlier, 20 innocent Pakistanis were murdered cold bloodedly in Turbat when they were on their way to dreamy lands of Europe, choosing the illegal land route via Iran, Turkey and Greece.

According to data from Frontex (official European Border and Coast Guard Agency), around 7,000 Pakistanis entered Europe illegally in 2017. Due to multiple issues, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the year 2017could manage to arrest only 11 out of 92 most-wanted human traffickers due to which Pakistan remained at the Tier-2 Watch List of the world ranking since again for not fully meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. Pakistan is facing the ranking since 2014.

The US State Department every year ranks each country according to its efforts in dealing the human trafficking issue. Though FIA, the premier body to check/ensure travel of passengers from and to Pakistan, has taken many steps to control human trafficking in the country, but because of several issues, the illegal business is still going on. Among the issues FIA faces are shortage of human resource, infrastructure, weak laws, etc.

For example, the Gujranwala division, particularly the districts of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin, are the hub of this illegal trade of honey dreams for money means but the FIA with just over a dozen investigators can’t fight this heinous crime spread in the this large area and population. Gujranwala, Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin, are hotbed of human trafficking and the FIA only has a total sanctioned strength of 60 officers/officials. Over 500 inquiries and 1100 FIRs are currently under investigation with the districts.

Approximate annual registration of inquires are over 2,400 and over 1100 FIRs in these offices in addition to other functions and responsibilities. Similarly, FIA, without its own buildings both in Gujranwala and Gujrat, is fighting this menace from rented buildings. Surprisingly, FIA Gujrat is running its day-to-day affairs from the building of a local police station.

On the other hand, over a dozen identified dead bodies of Pakistanis in the boat sinking tragedy; six belonged to three villages in Dinga city, Gujrat, alone. Out of those six, four belonged to a single family of village Rajo Bhand only. They included Ismael, 32, his wife Azmat Bibi, 29, his son Saad, 05 and his one and half months old daughter Fatima. The other two Zabi Ullah and Kamran were residents of Khori and Noon village respectively. Rehmat, bother of deceased Ismael, was also on the boat but survived fortunately.

Talking to The News, FIA Punjab Director Dr Usman Anwar said there were certain issues the agency was facing, even then they were doing a good job to fight human trafficking. He said after having deputed a liaison officer in Oman, appointment of two more officers in Turkey and Greece had been requested to the government for handling issues of Pakistani migrants.

To a question, the FIA officer said that on the directions of Supreme Court which is hearing a suo moto of Pakistanis' killings in boat sinking tragedy, FIA officials had met the Punjab government officials to identify land for the establishment of its offices. He said like Gujrat, more sub-circles of FIA would be established in Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Sargodha.

Dr Usman Anwar also said that not a single Pakistani who died in Libya tragedy travelled from the country illegally. Intending migrants leave Pakistan on legal documents and reach Dubai to go onward to Libya or Malaysia.

“Visa stickers for Libya are easily available for such aspirants from Dubai and after dodging immigration officials while showing return ticket to Pakistan, such people catch a flight by showing the visa sticker and reach Libya.” After reaching Libya, he added, they managed boat travels to reach European countries.

Moreover, the FIA officers said no proper law to control the human smuggling had been enacted as Emigration Ordinance of 1979 was being used for these crimes but it did not define human trafficking properly. “Insufficient punishments in the relevant laws such as Emigration Ordinance and other special laws related to the matter read as “Imprisonment or fine”, which favour the accused involved in this heinous crime”, the FIA officer said, adding a special law to control this crime was proposed with the help of UNODC in 2013 which was still pending with the ministry concerned.

Responding to another query, the FIA Punjab director said, "This heinous crime could only be controlled after we addressed push/ pull factors, including education, unemployment, poverty, social equity, equal justice and better earning opportunities. He also stated that awareness campaigns should also be run by the government highlighting the dangers of such illegal travels.