FIA submits list of 387 human traffickers to Interior Ministry

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted a list of 387 human traffickers to the Interior Ministry seeking action against them. A complete data of the 387 agents including names, particulars and other details were provided by FIA Balochistan Directorate to Interior Ministry and Director General FIA, informed sources in FIA revealed to this scribe on Thursday.
The list sent to Interior Ministry and FIA Headquarters contains no names of Baloch human traffickers, sources said adding that though Balochistan has a long border with Iran and Afghanistan but no Baloch has so far been implicated in human smuggling and the majority of the agents involved in trafficking are from Punjab.
Some of the 387 human traffickers were wanted by police and other law enforcement agencies in different cases, but so far no action has been taken against them, sources said, adding that the data was compiled by FIA Balochistan carefully. They said that a large number of people from the list were already enlisted in the 'Red Book' compiled by the FIA last year. Most of these human smugglers were operating at Pak-Iran sector and are sending people to Europe via Iran, Turkey and Greece or using the route of Central Asian States.
Directorate of FIA Balochistan was still waiting for a response from FIA headquarters of Interior Ministry to take action against these human traffickers. But there had been no response at all from Islamabad, sources stated. A large number of Pakistanis were languishing in detention camps in Turkey and other countries arrested while trying to illegally enter Europe, and most of these were sent by human traffickers via Balochistan.
FIA sources also revealed that in other parts of the country human smugglers have now changed their modus operandi and impersonate visa consultants. There is no law in the country to ensure visa consultants are accountable to any law enforcement agency of the country. There is dire need to make these visa consultants accountable and Ministry of Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis has to prepare rules and regulations governing them, sources maintained.
FIA sources said that the government is making all possible efforts to eliminate the menace of human smuggling and a multi-faceted system was introduced for the purpose. The Anti Human trafficking wing of the FIA was made more effective through the establishment of Anti Human Trafficking Circles (AHTCs). There are 15 AHTCs of FIA operating in Islamabad, Karachi, Larkana, Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, D G Khan, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Mardan, Quetta, Taftan, Chaman and Turbat, they added. These circles are responsible for human trafficking, illegal immigration and migrant smuggling. Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) have also been set up by FIA at all provincial Police headquarters, FIA headquarters, Zonal headquarters of FIA, which are focal points for liaison with police and collecting data about internal trafficking of people from them.
The Human Trafficking Information System (HUTIS) was set up in 2007 at FIA headquarters, but due to financial constraints the system is not working smoothly. The government has assured funds for the HUTIS, which requires major improvement and efforts are underway to reactivate the system.
In its efforts to curb the menace of human trafficking the FIA apprehended 3,640 human traffickers during the last three years from different parts of the country: 1245 during 2008, 1403 in 2009 and 992 during first eight months of the year 2010, they said. The government has taken comprehensive measures to create awareness among people to curb human trafficking and has promulgated Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (PACHTO) 2002, which was notified in 2004 to meet the national and international requirements and obligations. This was a main and vital law for the prevention of human trafficking in Pakistan and considered integral to combating human trafficking effectively through notified immigration control posts, sources added.
An Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) with representation from all law enforcement agencies including FIA, Frontier Corps Balochistan, Pakistan Coast Guards, Balochistan Levies, ISI, IB, and provincial police is working to control human trafficking through unauthorised routes by crossing Pak-Iran border. The FIA is lead agency of the IATF, which since its inception has intercepted 32,968 mostly at Pak-Iran border during the last five years.