Punjab police is said to have rescued at least 100 boys from being smuggled to European countries. A report published in a leading newspapers, last week, while quoting police sources stated that a couple of days police team stopped a bus carrying 19 young passengers at Kacha Pakka Mor near Chashma Barrage in Kundian police precincts. These boys according to purported report were being transported to Quetta for Iran, Turkey and Europe destinations. “All the 19 boys were handed over to Federal Investigation Agency, Faisalabad, for further inquiry”, the news report said adding that three more buses were intercepted by a police team at Kacha Pacca Mor, rescued 81 boys, impounded the vehicles and arrested the crew. The boys belong to areas of Gujrat, Lalamusa, Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad. Divulging the details of the incident DPO Mianwali said, “Nine boys are of 13 years of age and the rest are below 20. They are being handed over to FIA, Faisalabad, for further legal action against human smuggling gangs. Twelve crew members were also arrested.”
The report, which is an eye-opener for the authorities concerned, is a grim reminder of the fact this ugly, inhuman and illicit trade of human trafficking is going on unabated rather unchecked in our country. Unfortunately the youth hailing from poor, downtrodden and economically unprivileged families are being exploited and subjected to human trafficking by the heartless traffickers who continue to thrive on immoral practice of controlling their victims and exploiting them for involuntary labor and other purposes. Although this is not for the first time that police have foiled attempts to smuggle children abroad. Earlier, in January this year dozens of Pakistanis who fell victim to human traffickers were reported to have died after a boat they were boarding in sank in the deep sea off the coast of Libya. Similarly, in another heart-wrenching incident 20 innocent Pakistanis were callously murdered in Turbat when they were transported through illegal land route via Iran, Turkey and Greece to European countries. Although Pakistan during the recent couple of years have taken significant steps to curb human trafficking but the recent incidents suggest that there are still some areas where human smuggling rackets are operating freely. In Punjab, districts of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin have turned into a new hotbed of this illegal trade, so there is dire need that the government of Punjab should take effective notice of the matter and redouble its efforts to eliminate this curse of human trafficking once and for all. In order to bring the culprits to justice it is imperative that the investigation agencies should be further empowered so that they could be able to tackle this issue effectively.
