Senior FIA and Interior Ministry officials are scheduled to meet on 15 August to discuss amendments to the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance of 2002 in order to prosecute human traffickers more effectively. The amendments being considered include creating special courts for all human trafficking offenders and allowing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct raids under the Anti-Terrorists Act. In a related development, the government has formed a new anti-human smuggling task force focusing on the country’s borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan. The task force, which is headed by the FIA director-general, is responsible for spotting new modus operandi for human smuggling and for launching a nationwide awareness campaign on the issue.
The FIA received the 15 youths and two suspected human smugglers who were handed over to Pakistan by Turkish authorities on 10 August. The youths and the two agents had earlier been arrested by Turkish security forces along with 30 other people at the Greece-Turkey border. The youths had allegedly paid the agents Rs500,000 to Rs600,000 each to send them to Greece and other European countries, via Iran and Turkey. According to the FIA, the 15 youths would be released after the agency completes its examination of their documents while the two agents would be charged with human smuggling.
Iranian authorities have admitted imposing recently a more stringent visa policy for Pakistanis, including Shia pilgrims who wish to visit holy sites in Iran, for allegedly strictly medical reasons. Iranian consulate officials in Lahore said that those with hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis would not be granted visas. However, a source at the consulate revealed that the new visa policy was apparently not being applied to clerics and Shia leaders.
German authorities have deported 25 Pakistani irregular migrants, including five women, over the past two months. The Pakistani embassy in Berlin had allegedly issued emergency travel documents to the migrants between 1 June and 31 July to enable them to return home.
Pakistani national, Mohammad Billal Youssaf, 23, a resident of Brescia, Italy, was bound for London when he was arrested by French authorities on 7 August at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris upon his arrival from Lahore. Youssaf was allegedly found carrying five fake British passports and five fake British driver’s licenses, which contained information and photographs of different individuals. The anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor’s office is currently handling Youssaf’s case. There are reports that the police raided a residence at a Paris suburb as a result of information gathered from Youssaf’s arrest.
Nepalese nationals, Ahmad Ali, 20, and Shabnum Shagufa, 19, have decided to leave Pakistan on 10 August after authorities issued a warning to foreign religious students at madrassas to leave the country by September or face arrest. They were among the more than 1,400 foreigners studying in the country’s Islamic schools that the government has targeted for deportation as part of Pakistan’s drive against extremism in Islamic schools. Meanwhile, critics of the federal government’s crackdown on foreign religious students claimed that the move was unconstitutional and unlawful and are planning to take the matter to court.
Interpol has asked the Interior Ministry to provide information on lost and stolen Pakistani passports and other travel documents to help in the global drive to thwart terrorism. The UN Al-Qaeda.Taliban sanctions’ monitoring team had earlier asked the help of the international police to register stolen or lost travel documents, which law enforcers have long established as having a definite link to terrorism. Sources claimed that close to 430,000 blank travel documents have been stolen or lost from various countries worldwide. The UN monitoring team has also requested all member countries to register their file of stolen and lost travel documents with the international police and nullify them as soon as possible.
Pakistan is closing all Afghan refugee camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan by the end of August. The more than 100,000 refugees in the camps in Bajaur and Kurram agencies are being sent back to Afghanistan. Rising concerns over security have prompted the government to close down the camps in the remote tribal areas where government troops have been battling Al-Qaeda militants. Pakistan has also decided to move some 60,000 Afghan refugees currently scattered in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to another location by 15 September. The refugees were given three choices, including voluntary return to Afghanistan under the UNHCR program, transfer to the Kot Chandana refugee camp in Mianwali district or relocation to any other refugee camp in Pakistan. The federal government has also decided to take necessary measures against the alleged re-entry of repatriated Afghans into Pakistan.
The Indian High Commission has reportedly been processing over 14,000 visa applications from Pakistanis every month and issues an average of nearly 10,000 visas monthly. According to an official, visa applications for purposes of medical treatment in India are given priority. India had also considered granting visas-on-arrival to Pakistani senior citizens but Pakistan was against the idea.
Sources: Shahzad Raza, “Govt getting tough with Afghan refugees," Daily Times, 3 August 2005; “India giving 10,000 visas to Pakistanis every month," Daily Times, 3 August 2005; “Pakistan rejects Afghan request not to repatriate refugees," Daily Times, 4 August 2005; Wajahat Ijaz, “Interpol seeks data about lost, stolen passports," Dawn, 5 August 2005; Mubasher Bukhari, “Iran tightens visa policy for Pakistanis," Daily Times, 6 August 2005; APP, “Refugee camps in FATA being closed by 31st," Daily Times, 6 August 2005; “Pakistan ‘to close refugee camps’," BBC News, 6 August 2005; AFP, “Pakistan to close Afghan refugee camps," The Daily Star, 7 August 2005; AFP, “Refugee camps in Fata to be closed: UNHCR," Dawn, 7 August 2005; Khawaja Naseer, “Moot to tighten laws against human traffickers likely on 15th," Daily Times, 9 August 2005; Shahzad Raza, “30,000 refugees to be shifted from Islamabad by September 15," Daily Times, 9 August 2005; Reuters, “Pakistan begins closing Afghan refugee camps," Hindustan Times, 9 August 2005; “Afghan refugees to be moved out of Islamabad," Gulf Times, 9 August 2005; AFP, “Pakistani held in France with fake UK IDs," Dawn, 10 August 2005; “Pakistan moves to close two Afghan refugee camps," ABC Radio Australia, 10 August 2005; AFP, “Foreign students start leaving," Daily Times, 11 August 2005; Reuters, “Government starts to close refugee camps for Afghans," Gulf Times, 11 August 2005; “MMA may move court on deportation issue," Dawn, 11 August 2005; “Two agents among 17 deportees detained," Dawn, 11 August 2005; “Senate body for speedy repatriation of Afghan refugees," Daily Times, 12 August 2005; “25 deported from Germany in 2 months," Dawn, 12 August 2005; Syed Irfan Raza, “Task force formed to combat human smuggling," Dawn, 13 August 2005