Daily Times

PESHAWAR: An elderly woman was still searching for her son, who went missing five years ago while trying to enter Europe through illegal ways for a better future. She said that she along with her five daughters was still looking for her son, Azeem Khan, who was the only source of income for the entire family.

“Some friend and the so-called agents mislead my only son as he decided to go to Europe illegally for a better future,” the elderly women said while tears were rolling down her face.

Several times the family members told him [Azeem Khan] not to go to Europe but he insisted on to go abroad as he was left with the only choice to earn money for his family. “The agent took Rs 250, 000 from my son and after fifteen days he contacted us that he was on border of Iran and would go Turkey soon,” she said. “After that he never made any contact with us and we were informed that he had died on Turkey border,” the woman added. Azeem Khan is not a single youth who chooses an illegal way to go Europe for a better future as thousand of youth every year die on the border while trying to enter Europe illegally.

According to Section 2 of the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002, Human trafficking means obtaining, securing, selling, purchasing, recruiting, detaining, harboring or receiving a person, notwithstanding his implicit or explicit consent, by the use of coercion, kidnapping, abduction, or by giving or receiving any payment or benefit, or sharing or receiving a share for such person’s subsequent transportation out of or into Pakistan by any means whatsoever for any of the purposes laid down by law. According to Trafficking in Person (TIP) report of US State Department Office that monitors and combats trafficking in Persons, “The government of Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking; however, it is making efforts to do so. But these efforts to fight trafficking are impaired by systematic corruption.”

Around 800 human traffickers were arrested across the country, according to a report of Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) on March 30. According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)’s Red Book, the number of ‘most-wanted’ human trafficking network in Pakistan was 141 in 2013, 132 in 2012 and 95 in 2011. The majority of these human traffickers belonged to Gujrat and Gujranwala, while the rest were from Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

This network of 141 human traffickers comprises over 7,890 individuals, who illegally transported 8,234 Pakistanis through various routes to the Middle East, European and African countries.

The FIA has also intercepted over 61,200 people at the Pakistan-Iran and Pakistan-Afghanistan borders since 2009. The most common routes used by traffickers include Gulistan, Chaman, Rabat, Nushki, Chagai, Mand Ballu, Panjgur, Taftan and Turbat.

Ayaz Khan, a resident of Peshawar while talking to Daily Times, said that he chose an illegal way to reach Europe but on the Iran border he was arrested and deported to Pakistan.