Human trafficking earns bad name for country: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said human trafficking tarnishes global image of the country, as he directed relevant authorities to speed-up efforts and enhance coordination to combat human trafficking effectively.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier instructed strict action against the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials involved in facilitating human traffickers.

The development comes after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the island of Gavdos in southern Greece last week in which at least 5 Pakistanis were killed.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever in the Mediterranean Sea.

On Wednesday, the prime minister asked the FIA and the Foreign Office to submit a detailed report on all such incidents took place across the world in which Pakistanis were involved.

In the meeting on Friday, the prime minister emphasised expediting ongoing investigations related to human trafficking and presenting concrete recommendations as soon as possible.

The meeting was informed that majority of the victims of human traffickers happen to from Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, and Mandi Bahauddin districts.

It was also briefed that Pakistani Embassy in Athens can be contacted on the helpline number +30-6943850188 and the Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on telephone number 051-9207887 for obtaining any kind of information and assistance regarding the boat incident.