Compulsion or craze – More lives lost in quest for going abroad

Qaiser Zulfiqar

Islamabad: Whether it is a craze for going abroad or compulsion for earning bread and butter for families, more Pakistanis lost their lives in this quest when a boat capsized near Gavdos Island, South of Crete, Greece.

The incident follows a similar tragedy in June 2023 when an overcrowded vessel capsized off Pylos, becoming one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean claiming lives of dozens of illegal migrants including Pakistanis.

December 14 was another tragic day when five of Pakistani citizens were confirmed dead after their bodies were recovered during a search operation with 35 others declared missing dead in an endeavor to illegally move to Europe.

Why such tragic incidents again and again, is a question haunting many of us. Why people try their luck again and again by cruising on unsafe waters of Mediterranean in a wooden boat.

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May be it is a craze or compulsion to go abroad. But why to risk their lives by using illegal means is yet another food of thought for top masters. Those died in this incident, were no doubt fathers, sons, brothers or husbands of somebody and this loss of life would continue paining their families for long.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has regretted the loss of precious lives and his government functionaries are on their toes to nab the traffickers involved in this incident after strict orders by the Premier to take responsible to task at the earliest.  

As rescue operation ends, the families of missing 35 Pakistanis deemed to be drowned in Mediterranean can only wait for a miracle if any among them survives and reaches back home. Incidents occur and we move forward on the same path forgetting previous happening. 

Why so, is a question validly answered by renowned lawyer Rai Yaseen by saying, “anything can happen in a society plagued by poverty and corruption. When poverty is unbearable and people struggle for one time meal, they can easily be swayed by exploiters offering glamorous opportunities of moving abroad.”

“Many among them borrow money from relatives and others selling their properties or gold with a hope that their son or brother would earn a lot abroad, feed the family, retire debt and make them buy property again,” Rai Yaseen said.

But was it a solution, he questions and says, “no matter this tendency also prevails even on Mexico-United States border. Then should we experience it again and again. No, never. Sooner or later we shall have to set our house in order, promote expertise and skills and technically sound people abroad legally.”

There is another side of picture where people in family rivalries nurture craze of going abroad to become compatible to their relatives.

Here is an instance. A youngster Chaudhry Muhammad Adnan got selected in Punjab Police as Assistant Sub-Inspector a few years back. But, instead of taking this job as a blessing, he was crazy to go abroad.

“Why I should not go abroad when by brothers are in Germany and their wives always taunt me to be a government servant of grade-9 or 10. I cannot tolerate them deriding me,” he commented.

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Couple of years’ back this crazy guy married a Spanish girl, left the ASI job and moved to Spain and from there to Germany only to retort his mocking sisters-in-law. After leaving his job, now he is working at a hotel.

So, there can be multiple reasons behind Pakistanis illegally moving abroad. But, we must be sure that above all it is poverty and search for jobs that makes people use dangerous means of travelling abroad.

This curse affects countless individuals every year. Victims from vulnerable socioeconomic background, are lured by false promises of better opportunities but find themselves’ trapped in a cycle of exploitation. 

Internationally, traffickers exploit Pakistan’s migrant laborers. Many are deceived by recruiting agents promising jobs in Gulf States who very soon find themselves’ working in quite inhumane conditions, stripped of their passports and burdened with debts they cannot repay.

Poverty, illiteracy and limited awareness on respective laws are the systematic challenges to be addressed to controlling human trafficking in Pakistan and shrinking space for exploiters.

Although Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established anti-human trafficking units and courts have handed down sentences to traffickers, but they still find a space to perform this notorious job.

The FIA has also set up Anti-Human Trafficking and Smuggling Wing (AHTSW) to deal with this problem and enforcement of laws under Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act and Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018.

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The agency operates across Pakistan with specialized teams to handle trafficking, works closely with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and coordinate with NGOs and welfare organizations to smash traffickers’ networks. 

But desired results are still awaited apparently due to limited resources for effective enforcement of law, deep-seated cultural norms perpetuating bonded labor, regional instability and porous borders apparently provide space for traffickers to push forward their notorious agenda.

Therefore, addressing human trafficking in Pakistan requires a multi-pronged approach comprising education campaigns for vulnerable communities, stricter laws and penalties for traffickers, uprooting systemic corruption, providing job opportunities locally and proper border management.

The feature report was released by APP on December 20, 2024. 

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