PM Shehbaz directs enhanced collaboration to combat human trafficking

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed concerned authorities to take effective measures to combat human trafficking in the country by enhancing coordination, ARY News reported.

While presiding over a meeting today about preventing human trafficking in Islamabad, PM Shehbaz also gave instructions to identify Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials, who assist human traffickers and take strong action against them.

The prime minister further instructed to complete ongoing probe into human trafficking issue at the earliest and submit concrete recommendations. He said human trafficking earns a bad name for Pakistan in the entire world.

PM Shehbaz said a substantial delay was committed in taking action against the responsible following boat capsising incident in 2023.

The meeting was briefed on the recent boat incident in Greece as well as the steps done thus far to combat human trafficking.

Five Pakistanis who perished in the Greek boat mishap have been recognised, and the process of identifying the remaining individuals is still under progress, according to the briefing. Regarding the boat incident, it was also disclosed that the Pakistani Embassy in Athens maintains regular communication with the Greek authorities.

For any information or help regarding the boat incident, the meeting was informed that the Pakistani Embassy in Athens can be reached at +30-6943850188, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Crisis Management Unit in Islamabad can be reached at 051-9207887.

It was informed that people belonging to Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin districts are mostly become the victims of human traffickers. Moreover, legislation to stop human trafficking is also being improved.

Read more: Greece boat incident: MOFA releases names of 47 rescued Pakistanis

Earlier, a plea was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to establish a judicial commission to investigate the recent boat capsising incident in Greece.

A miscellaneous application was filed in the LHC by Advocate Azhar Siddique. The applicant asserted that the government has ‘failed’ to take any action against human smugglers.

Advocate Azhar Siddique further stated that the inaction against smugglers constitutes a violation of the law.