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| Sunday, July 25, 2010, Sha`baan 12, 1431 A.H |
Peshawar: Human trafficking is the third largest lucrative illegal business in the world after drug and weapon smuggling that generates almost 10 billion US dollars annually. There is hardly any country in the world who is safe from this menace of our today’s so called modern world. A country can be used as a source, transit and destination in this growing illegal business of human smuggling. Pakistan, unfortunately is used for all the three purposes. It has been a source of human trafficking where young men, women and children are being trafficked to other countries. Similarly, it is also used as a transit where the trafficked people are brought here and then trafficked to other countries. Similarly, Pakistan has been a destination also as people are being trafficked here as well. Afghan women and girls are commonly brought IN Pakistan where the forged documents were made for them. Pakistan is also used as a transit country for human trafficking from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the most vulnerable province of Pakistan where women and children are more prone to trafficking. FATA is also not an exception. There are two types of human trafficking -- external and internal trafficking. In Pakistan both forms of trafficking are increasing with each passing day. To control the human trafficking there is only one law -- P&CHTO (Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002). However, sadly this ordinance does not deal with the internal trafficking An official of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which deals with the human trafficking cases told The Frontier Post on condition of anonymity that the law in Pakistan to control and prevent the human trafficking is not a solid one and has many loop holes. He said the FIA officials by law cannot arrest or stop any person trafficking people within the country. “Even if we stop someone from trafficking people to abroad we do not have much facilities to keep them into custody for further investigation,” he said. He said there is only one office (Anti-Trafficking Unit) where they could take the culprits for further investigation, however, investigating the women victims is almost impossible as there is no female official. Project Manager of Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) Said Afzal Shinwari said effective implementation of prevailing laws, extension of trafficking laws to FATA, strengthening the capacity of relevant stake holders on women trafficking are must to control the menace. He said people being trafficked from Afghanistan were provided with Pakistani Computerised National Identity Cards and Passports by the influential groups working in the province who have their sources in NADRA. “Increase in shelter homes for the trafficking survivors, political commitment on the part of government, can help in preventing the human trafficking,” Shinwari said. |
The Frontier Post
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