Quick-buck wish becomes death-trap for Pak emigrants

It is difficult to gauge the magnitude of the human tragedy that is resulting from illegal immigration with any degree of certainty, while more people from the middle class are turning towards much-fantasised dreamlands entertaining quick-buck wishes, while most of them are landing into the death traps.

The human trafficking is on the rise in Pakistan, while the country has become a source, transit and destination for trafficked people. The coastal belt from Karachi to Balochistan is still a paradise for human traffickers as the route to Iran from where they are picked up by gangs and transported to Greece, Italy and Spain via ships.

On the other hand, the govt is yet to take tangible steps in nabbing the culprits, who are still minting money by alluring the simple-but-greedy Pakistanis constantly in search of pastures anew, while hundreds of them have died so far, but it has not deterred more from entering into dubious deals with the corrupt law enforcement govt functionaries working in close liaison with the hunters.

In the current month, the Turkish Border Security Force shot dead 13 Pakistanis who were trying to cross border into Greece. They were from Jallalpur Jattan, Gujrat and Sialkot. Moreover, more than 700 survivors are languishing in the Turkish jails, while 60 to 70 Pakistani immigrants are being intercepted on the Iran-Turkish Border every week.

In July, bodies of 13 Pakistanis were found near Istanbul, who had died due to suffocation in an overcrowded truck container. They were among 80 from Pakistan and Myanmar, who were crammed into the vehicle. During the same month, 325 illegal Pakistani immigrants were deported from Turkey only. In June, 23 illegal immigrants were arrested in Greece, while 4,00 were repatriated from Malaysia.

Like the above-mentioned figures, every month one can find such news flashed across the media, but even death is not deterring desperate young people from running away from the country ultimately ending themselves in the fatal labyrinth of illegal immigrants.