Edit in The Nation, Dec 16, 2023
The establishment of a hotline to report human traffickers across the country is a very important development, in crime control as well as citizens’ welfare. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) worked in collaboration with the Australian High Commission and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to set up the hotline and devise the necessary coordination mechanism. The hotline will receive complaints and direct them to relevant police stations. This was a very urgent need because human trafficking has remained a persistent challenge, threatening people’s lives and in some cases, ending up in extreme and worst-case scenarios just like the drowning of a boat off the coast of Greece – claiming the lives of hundreds of Pakistani nationals.
The lure of travelling abroad and finding work is the major emotion that human traffickers exploit. Being a country with a difficult economy, Pakistanis from lower economic classes find it attractive to bear a painful journey and land in Europe to find a job that pays well. Their desire to make a life abroad overrides all concerns of safety and the necessity of legal travel. Human traffickers turn this desire into a lethal business, putting people’s lives at risk and making money out of it. The networks are often well-formed and difficult to catch unless reported directly by people.
In this context, the hotline marks a significant step in the ongoing crackdown against human traffickers. The Greece boat tragedy was a tipping about but the crime has existed for as long as we know. Having an accessible hotline to report human traffickers will be extensively useful to trace mafia-like networks and break their money-making chain which even extends transnationally. Here, in the long run, the role of Interpol will also be relevant as human traffickers’ networks are not limited to one country.
FIA’s Director General, Mohsin Hassan Butt, emphasized the hotline’s pivotal role in the fight against this crime, representing an evolution towards a harmonised approach to reporting across the country. This initiative is not merely a system, it is a catalyst for positive change, enhancing the nation’s capacity to address trafficking in persons more effectively. A strong, uninterrupted, and reliable crime reporting cycle that also ensures quick delivery of justice through interoperability of law enforcement and justice departments is a model that can be replicated in crime control, generally.
https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Dec-2023/report-human-trafficking
Report Human Trafficking
Edit in The Nation, Dec 16, 2023
The establishment of a hotline to report human traffickers across the country is a very important development, in crime control as well as citizens’ welfare. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) worked in collaboration with the Australian High Commission and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to set up the hotline and devise the necessary coordination mechanism. The hotline will receive complaints and direct them to relevant police stations. This was a very urgent need because human trafficking has remained a persistent challenge, threatening people’s lives and in some cases, ending up in extreme and worst-case scenarios just like the drowning of a boat off the coast of Greece – claiming the lives of hundreds of Pakistani nationals.
The lure of travelling abroad and finding work is the major emotion that human traffickers exploit. Being a country with a difficult economy, Pakistanis from lower economic classes find it attractive to bear a painful journey and land in Europe to find a job that pays well. Their desire to make a life abroad overrides all concerns of safety and the necessity of legal travel. Human traffickers turn this desire into a lethal business, putting people’s lives at risk and making money out of it. The networks are often well-formed and difficult to catch unless reported directly by people.
In this context, the hotline marks a significant step in the ongoing crackdown against human traffickers. The Greece boat tragedy was a tipping about but the crime has existed for as long as we know. Having an accessible hotline to report human traffickers will be extensively useful to trace mafia-like networks and break their money-making chain which even extends transnationally. Here, in the long run, the role of Interpol will also be relevant as human traffickers’ networks are not limited to one country.
FIA’s Director General, Mohsin Hassan Butt, emphasized the hotline’s pivotal role in the fight against this crime, representing an evolution towards a harmonised approach to reporting across the country. This initiative is not merely a system, it is a catalyst for positive change, enhancing the nation’s capacity to address trafficking in persons more effectively. A strong, uninterrupted, and reliable crime reporting cycle that also ensures quick delivery of justice through interoperability of law enforcement and justice departments is a model that can be replicated in crime control, generally.
https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Dec-2023/report-human-trafficking
Published in Pak Media comment