In pursuit of happiness!

Human traffickers making hay at the cost of precious lives

LAHORE: Last year more than 20 Pakistanis lost their lives, when their boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, in search of greener pastures for their families. The case is under probe at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Gujrat Circle.

According to official statistics, from 2015 to 2021, more than 618,877 Pakistanis have been deported from 138 countries. The figure itself speaks of the alarming situation. Many Pakistanis were expelled by the countries either on the charges of illegal entry, bogus travel documents or expired work permits.

According to an official of the FIA Gujrat Circle, the division is one of the major hotspots for migrants aspiring to go to Europe illegally. More than 4,200 people hailing from this place have been deported from 2019 to date. The federal agency has managed to arrest 836 human traffickers and over 100 Proclaimed Offenders (POs) in these years whereas more than 320 POs are still at large.

A senior FIA official told Bol News that there are two routes preferred by the human traffickers to transport youths to European countries. According to him, the first route is the land route from where young boys from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are taken to Iran from where they enter Turkey. After reaching Turkey, they are further transported illegally to various European countries primarily to Greece while crossing the Aegean Sea.

Similarly, he added, the second route is via African countries wherein young people from various developing countries are transported to Libya by human traffickers. Eventually, the youths are further transported to Italy and other European countries while crossing the Mediterranean Sea. A teenager Amanullah chose the former and apprised his father Gulzada Safi while talking to this scribe. Sharing the hardships of his family he said, “I have seven kids, five sons and two daughters, and Amanullah was my third son. The family of nine people lives in a small room that depicts the true picture of our poverty”.

My nephews had been sending money back home after entering Europe through illegal means and had become success stories for my family, which enticed my son into adhering to illegal means to overpower poverty once and for all, and in trying to do so, he lost his life, apprised Safi. Amanullah was a First-Year student of Computer Science when one day he asked his father to let him try his luck to make ends meet. Initially, Safi snubbed his son for the thought but eventually submitted to his son’s argument. His son managed to convince him by presenting the argument that the worst possible situation would be that he would be deported if caught by the law enforcers.

According to Safi, he had sold one marla of the property he had inherited to pay the traffickers. The cousins of my son, living in Belgium, had introduced them to an agent named Nadeem of Wadala Sandhuan in Daska.

The devil’s skill of convincing

This scribe, in a bid to dig out the facts relating to the abominable activity, tracked down a human trafficker living in a small town in Gujrat. The divisions of Gujrat and Gujranwala are the hub of human trafficking in Pakistan.

Without disclosing his real name, the human trafficker said he has been in the business for more than a decade and had sent hundreds of people to various European countries to date. He also said that human trafficking is one of the most ‘profitable’ businesses wherein customers would always come to them.

“People are tired of poverty, hunger and unemployment. The majority of those coming to us belong to the lower middle-class families and they want to become rich not only to end their deprivation but also to compete with their foreign siblings in social and economic status as well”, he told.

According to him, illiteracy is one of the biggest factors which they exploit while dealing with customers. He admitted that the traffickers never share the dreadful stories of those who have lost their lives in their quest for greener pastures. We try every trick to encourage our customers to send their kids for a bright future, and this way we mint more money”.

Furthermore, he said that human trafficking is a business which has expanded all over the world and our ‘colleagues’ in various countries do their bid once the intending immigrant travels through their territories. “There are established networks in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and European countries. Everyone gets his share”, he also apprised.

Furthermore, he said that the majority of the intending immigrants are underage as they do not possess ID cards and passports so they chose the land route. “They make a plan and here they go. Within a few weeks, some manage to reach their destinations, some get caught and some die, unfortunately”, he also said.

According to him, he knows many families who have lost their children on this journey but they approach him again with a request to arrange travel for their other child. He claimed that the FIA officials have a fair idea of this illegal business.

“Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, our business remained almost at a halt but now it is booming’ again”, he said. The same mantra was used by a human trafficker with Safi and his son.

According to Safi, the trafficker told them that even without any documents, he will arrange the journey. “We pay money to border authorities at the Turkish border and then they let our people travel onwards to the European countries. And we fell for it”, he added. But Safi’s son Amanullah failed to achieve the intended and was caught by the security forces at Turkey’s border who allegedly beat him up to death. With the help of some friends, he managed to bring the dead body of his son back to Pakistan.

At the funeral of his son, Safi made a powerful speech and held the state responsible for the agony and misery of the thousands of youths. “It is unfortunate that the ruling elite of the country rather than making efforts to uplift the future generations of the country are busy in their fight for power and privilege. Responding to a query, Safi said he had approached the FIA Gujranwala for actions against the human traffickers but to date, no one has approached him yet to record even his statement. He said he even tried legal actions against the Turkish security forces responsible for the death of his son but there was no progress on that part as well. Safi constantly asks a question that the Turkish forces could have arrested his son and deported him back. What was the need to beat him up to death? He questions repeatedly.

When contacted, the In-charge Gujranwala Circle, Deputy Director FIA Nasir Bajwa said they have zero tolerance policy in human trafficking cases and soon people involved in this case would be apprehended.A I will personally look into the matter, and people involved in the Amanullah Khan case would be arrested on a priority basis, he assured.