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Immigration fraud on the rise
Karachi, Nov 09, 2007: Almost every month a batch of deportees arrives at the Karachi airport or harbour from European and Middle Eastern countries or sometimes from the United States, because they are staying illegally in one of those countries.
The rising incidences of Pakistanis being deported to their homeland is corroboration of the fact that the government authorities and the relevant state agencies have failed to fulfill their obligation to monitor human trafficking and illegal immigration. Not only that but it has also been seen that several agents throughout Pakistan make millions of rupees by duping people with the promise of immigration to other countries, thought to be one of the reasons why cases of deportation are on the rise. Some victims also complained that the money they paid to the agents for visas was not returned to them when these agents were held by the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) anti-human trafficking cell.
According to sources, the FIA has information on such agents operating throughout the country.
Sources said that human trafficking has been going on for several years and is not a recent phenomenon. In this regard, several policies were made but it has all been in vain. They further said that the FIA authorities do not have the complete data of such agents operating in the country who 'promise' to send people abroad for work or for purposes of immigration.
They also said had these franchises/agents been licensed and/or registered and if a record was maintained in this regard, then it would have been easier to catch hold of such people. Sources added that some of the present directors of the FIA did try to arrest some of the renowned people belonging to the agent mafia/agencies but owing to severe pressure from the authorities, the operation was being stopped the same night. Several cases have been registered at the local police stations or at the FIA police stations against them but the authorities seem least interested in the matter.
There have been many cases reported in this regard. Recently, for example, a case was lodged at the Preedy police station in which Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rehman, a resident of Khyaban-e-Baadban, Phase 5, said that last year in May, his relative Sirajuddin was arrested from the Karachi Airport by FIA Inspector Fazal due to incomplete documentation.
Jamil added that he went to the FIA police station and after meeting his relative there, he was on his way home when met two people who identified themselves as Qazi Mukhtiyar and Bashir Ahmed and asked him why he was at the police station. Jamil told them what had happened, to which they said that if they wanted his relative to be released, then he had to pay about Rs250,000. They finally settled at an amount of Rs210,000 and Sirjauddin was released.
Jamil said that when the documents were examined, it was learnt that there was nothing wrong with them and he had been cheated. Jamil submitted a complaint to the authorities and also demanded that Qazi Mukhtiyar and Bashir Ahmed be arrested. The authorities promised to return the cash and called him on May 25, 2007. A case was lodged at the police station but still the case is pending and the criminals are still at large.
Another case, in which a complainant visited the FIA, Saddar head quarters, was also registered. A complaint was submitted regarding a man being cheated by an agent, but the case has not been lodged as yet.
Shahid Javed, a resident of City Railway Colony, Karachi, said that he visited the FIA Human Trafficking Cell in Saddar several times, regarding a fraud of Rs435,000 by a travel agent but nothing has happened so far. In the complaint, he said that he came from district Sialkot, Punjab, in search of the accused, Christopher Gill, who was running a travel agency in the name of Shamir International (Pvt.) Limited in Islamabad three years ago.
Gill gave Javed the assurance that he would send the latter and his brother to Korea legally. For this purpose, Gill took Rs435,000 from Javed. After receiving the said amount, Gill vanished, and for the last three years Javed has been looking for him. In his search, he came to Karachi and managed to locate some of Gill's contacts and found that the accused was present at the house of his father-in-law situated in Razabad, Karachi. Javed then went to the FIA Human Trafficking Cell, Saddar, and submitted his complaint which was received by some higher officials but a raid has not been carried out yet.
There are several other victims like Javed who have gone to lodge complaints but no action has been taken by the authorities. It is no surprise then that the masses do not have faith in the FIA. The News
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