Despite arrests, including by FIA officials, in light of the strictest orders, human trafficking has not stopped. Human traffickers, who have spread across the country under the guise of recruiting agents, are not stopping from tricking innocent people into sending them abroad.  

When the news of the Greek boat accident broke last month, there were also reports that thousands of illegal Pakistani migrants were currently in the hands of human traffickers on the arduous and extremely painful land and sea journey to Europe, or had sold several household goods, livestock and paid the agents and were waiting for the green light.  Human trafficking is a crime in which one person exploits another for his own financial gain. These people take advantage of the victims’ compulsions and use psychological or physical violence on them.  After the boat accident near Greece last month in which 40 Pakistani migrants died, another boat that was carrying 86 people from the African country of Mauritania to Spain sank on January 16 off the coast of Morocco, killing 44 Pakistanis on board.  Including 50 people died.  All this was done deliberately by human traffickers, according to which they kept the boat standing in the open sea for 8 days while demanding more money and during this time they threw several people into the water after torture, and later the boat itself sank. The total number of Pakistanis on board was 66, out of which 22 were rescued by Moroccan officials.  The smuggling of illegal immigrants through boats through African countries has been going on for a long time. According to a report, a record 10,457 immigrants from different countries died trying to reach Spain during 2024 alone. One would ask the authorities to take strict action against those involved in human trafficking and their facilitators.

Under the orders of the Prime Minister, the FIA arrested 185 human traffickers and recruiting agents in a month and sent their cases to the courts.  20 FIA officials are under investigation. In addition, 15 people have been arrested in connection with the Greek boat accident, while the same number of their facilitators have been arrested. The properties of the accused worth more than Rs 450 million were seized and bank accounts worth Rs 70 million were frozen.  In light of the unavoidable requirements of the prevailing situation and the strictest instructions of the Prime Minister, the aforementioned actions against those involved in human trafficking will prove to be encouraging if their network is exposed with complete arrests and the matter is taken to its logical conclusion through investigation in the light of the rescued migrants and their statements.  It should be noted that human traffickers move from one country to another through their network when necessary, which should be remedied by making the screening system at airports more effective and no effort should be spared in reaching their facilitators. Amendments can be made to the existing laws while reviewing them and they should be made so that they are as effective as possible. It should be made solid so that there is no scope for them to be taken advantage of. In recent days, due to the poor law and order situation, poverty and unemployment in the country, there has been an increase in the tendency of youth to go abroad and these youth, who are considered the architects of the country, are risking their lives to go abroad illegally for a better future and employment.  The majority of them belong to Gujarat, Jhelum, Bahawalpur, Mandi Bahauddin and other cities. Seeing that the economic conditions of a family in the neighborhood have improved due to the members of that family going abroad, the people of these areas also encourage their young sons to go abroad out of greed and these youth fall into the hands of agents involved in human trafficking who, by showing them a dream of a better future and deceiving them to take them abroad illegally, extort huge amounts of money from them.  It is gratifying that on the instructions of the Govt, the names of smugglers and agents involved in human trafficking have been put on the ECL, while orders have also been issued to seize the properties of smugglers and agents. In addition, for the first time in Pakistan's history, 35 FIA officers and officials involved in crimes with human smugglers have been dismissed after the deaths of Pakistanis in the sinking of an illegal migrant boat in Greece, which is a strong message to criminals, which will not only discourage human trafficking but also prevent such incidents from happening in the future. Parents should also realize their responsibilities and discourage their young children from going abroad illegally so that tomorrow they cannot hold themselves responsible for their deaths.  Smuggling, whether of goods or human lives, is a scourge that needs to be uprooted. Along with this, steps should also be taken that will provide employment to the youth within the country.  At present, skilled and educated people are turning to foreign countries due to lack of employment. If this situation continues, there will be a shortage of such people within the country, which will cause serious losses to the country's economy.  No country that desires economic development can afford brain drain. Pakistan is currently facing economic difficulties, it should not allow such a situation to arise. The punitive measures against human traffickers in this regard should be strictly implemented. One should also take advantage of employment abroad, but only through legal means.