Link-offices being set up in four countries to curb human trafficking: Senate body told

• Apprising the committee about land and air routes used by human traffickers, Shehzad said they also travelled to Dubai on visit visa and then moved to Libya with the help of local agents for reaching Italy through sea route.
• Taking exception of the minimal sensitization of masses about the implications of human-trafficking, he urged the FIA to launch massive awareness campaigns to discourage the malpractice.
• The Foreign Office officials told the committee that they were in constant contact with the Saudi authorities and soon a Pakistani delegation would visit Saudi Arabia.

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development was informed on Tuesday that additional link-offices were being set up in four foreign countries to curb human trafficking and illegal immigration.

"Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), under its three-year restructuring plan, is opening up new link-offices at Turkey, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom to dismantle human-trafficking rackets," Director Anti-Human Trafficking Department FIA Shehzad Haider told the committee, which met with Hilal-ur-Rehman in the chair.

He said the new facilities would be functional soon as the Finance Ministry had approved the required budget in this regard.

Some four link-offices, established with an objective to liaise with the law-enforcement counterparts of host countries, had already been operational in Iran, Greece, Muscat and Oman, he informed the panel while highlighting the government’s efforts to combat human-trafficking.

He said every year, some 75,000 Pakistanis enter Europe, the United States and Middle East illegally by using land and air routes. Due to porous border, the traffickers usually travel to Iran with valid visas in order to reach Turkey and Greece illegally, he added.

He said the seaports of Karachi, Gawadar and Jiwani were the easiest routes to go the Gulf States.

Apprising the committee about land and air routes used by human traffickers, Shehzad said they also travelled to Dubai on visit visa and then moved to Libya with the help of local agents for reaching Italy through sea route.

Senator Shaheen Khalid Butt underlined the need for taking strong action against the illegal agents at home rather than abroad. It was imperative to break the nexus between the local and foreign human traffickers, he added.

Taking exception of the minimal sensitization of masses about the implications of human-trafficking, he urged the FIA to launch massive awareness campaigns to discourage the malpractice.

Due to lengthy porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, Shehzad said an Inter-Agency Task Force had been established to control the human trafficking through collection of intelligence and information sharing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari told the committee that the ministry had suspended the licenses of 65 Overseas Employment Promoters due to their involvement in illegal migration.

He said some 400 cases of illegal agents had also been forwarded to the FIA for further action.

Bukhari asked the FIA to take punitive measures against the illegal agents and highlight it over media to discourage such elements in the country.

The committee sought the FIA’s response over 400 cases referred by the overseas ministry.

The issue of deportation of Pakistani doctors from Saudi Arabia also echoed in the committee and its members asked the departments concerned to resolve the issues of overseas Pakistanis at the earliest.

Managing Director of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation Dr Amir Sheikh briefed the committee members about the issue and said that the Saudi Council for Health Specialties (SCFHS)had developed a Professional Qualification Requirement document in 2018 that recognized the professional degrees in medical field.

He said the SCFHS had invited the degree awarding bodies from across the globe for getting the presentation on their training and examination system.

The Foreign Office officials told the committee that they were in constant contact with the Saudi authorities and soon a Pakistani delegation would visit Saudi Arabia.

Dr Amir said only four doctors had been deported from the Saudi Arabia since emergence of the issue.

The committee was also informed that the Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Persons between China and Pakistan would be finalized by the next month as Pakistan had forwarded the ratification instrument to China after ratifying it. The China might ratify the treaty by the next month, he hoped.