Quick-buck wish becomes death-trap for Pak emigrants

LAHORE-The tragedy of illegal immigration to ‘Fortress Europe’ continues, and there is no end to this in sight contrary to the govt’s claims of providing people with better livelihood-earning opportunities, as the phenomenon of immigration has deep and complex roots, which are anchored in the indigenous inequalities being further fuelled by the globalisation.

According to the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme, human trafficking generates $7 billion a year, and this business has become the second largest illegal trade in the world after drugs and weapons, while human smuggling and trafficking is continuing unchecked. Over the years, human trafficking has become a complicated and profitable business dominated by organised criminal syndicates having connections in all the countries.

There are also allegations that human trafficking in Pakistan is aided and facilitated by some influential figures, including political ones. However, none of the law enforcement agencies has neither investigated these leading figures nor arrested their foot soldiers even.

In May this year, it was reported that 200 human traffickers escaped Pakistan fearing prosecution, while most of them belonged to Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Jehlum, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Kharian, Multan, Kasur and Okara.

‘They have been so influential over a period of time, that no govt has ever dared controlling them. However, it was being considered that the present govt could take an action against them, but they have fled the country’, said an FIA officer, seeking anonymity.

Traffickers are mostly organised groups of criminals who manipulate legal channels of migration in order to gain entry to a particular country at a given time.

About 150,000 people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are illegally sent to other countries, while quite a large number of them are either arrested, killed or abandoned to die prior to reaching their desired destinations.