Smuggling of Migrants: Pakistan faces serious challenges

Pakistan climbed to the fifth place in an infamous list of countries, which accounted for the most illegal immigrants in Europe, according to a recent report released by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

The report pointed to some chilling data, saying that nearly 40% of Pakistanis wanted to leave the country mainly because of economic difficulties, political uncertainty, lack of educational opportunities lack of employment, inflation, and terrorism.

The report, authored by Zunaira Inam, had been prepared by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Denmark and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and was launched at a recent ceremony in Karachi.

The report said that a spike was witnessed in the illegal emigration in the last two years. The trend, it added, continued despite the perilous journey. “Illegal migration is increasing in spite of serious difficulties and danger to life on the illegal routes,” NCHR Chairperson Rabiya Javeri Agha said.

Speaking at the introduction ceremony, Agha said that there had been an improvement in the situation after the strong legislation and other measures introduced to curb this trend, following a deadly boat accident off the Greek coast that killed over 300 Pakistanis.

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Qaratul Ain Marri of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that this report was a “call for action”, as it identified the socio-economic and political factors that contributed to the emigration from the country. “These reports points out our internal problems and challenges that require a coordinated and effective strategy to solve them,” she said, adding that the Senate Human Rights Committee “will play an active role” in resolving these problems.

The report said that in 2022, Pakistan was not among the top-10 countries for illegal migration to Europe but by mid-2023, the country became the fifth largest nation and by December 2023, 8,778 people had crossed into Europe illegally.

According to the report, the Pakistani emigrants mostly used the route to Europe via Dubai, Egypt and Libya. It said that some 13,000 Pakistanis reached Europe in the first half of 2023 through this route and 10,000 of them did not return.

The trend of illegal emigration from urban areas was higher than the rural areas. According to the NCHR report, 40% residents in the urban areas and 36% population in the rural areas of Pakistan were willing to leave the country.

The desire for leaving the country was the strongest in Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) with 42%; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa followed with 38%, Sindh 37.6% and Islamabad 36.5%.

According to the data, the number of Pakistanis traveling illegally to Europe increased by 280% in the first 10 months of 2022. In the same period, there was also a spike of 208% in illegal immigration from Turkey; 179% from Egypt; 165% from Afghanistan; 122% from Syria, and 92% from Bangladesh.

Among the nationalities of the illegal immigrants to Europe, Syria takes the first place with 42.7%. Afghanistan accounts for 16.4%, Tunisia 12.1%, Egypt 9.6%, Bangladesh 8%, Turkey 5.7% and Pakistanis 5.5%. Gujarat, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin and Sialkot districts stand out in terms of large numbers.

The data shows that in 2022, more than 46,000 Pakistanis, who went to Europe illegally, were deported by air and another 5,676 by land, while 19,055 people were offloaded at various airports. In the first eight months of 2023, more than 25,000 people were deported by air and 3,150 by land, while 10,366 were offloaded.

After the death of hundreds of Pakistani illegal immigrants near a Greek coast in June 2023, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other law-enforcement authorities intensified a crackdown on the human smugglers, the report said. In 2023, 189 cases were registered and 854 people were arrested.

The report recommended to the authorities concerned to curb illegal migration, by spreading awareness in areas where the trend was high. This calls for a concerted plan of action.