Human traffickers deal in deception
Thu, October 09 2008
Last week 598 Pakistanis in Oman’s capital Muscat were sent home after they had been arrested for staying illegally in the Arab state and working without proper documents. Jabbar was one of them.
The menace is on the increase in Pakistan with every day many such people being arrested in different countries. “I paid $1,450 to an agent for a job in Muscat by taking loans from different relatives and friends,” Jabbar told IANS.
He said that he met the agent through a friend and then collected money from different family members and friends. “This took almost a year after which the agent took us to Karachi,” said Jabbar, a resident of Rawalpindi.
He said that he and about 100 others were shipped to Muscat in a crowded boat that sailed through the Arabian sea in darkness. In Muscat the agent guided them to a small building in a deserted area, saying that they would have to stay there for about a month after which he would take them to work.
Jabbar said that all of them were still in that house when after 11 days Muscat Police raided the building. All of them were arrested and shifted to a jail. He said that during those 11 days they were provided food but not allowed to leave the building.
“We just interrogate these people to trace the human smugglers. They are not really arrested after returning home,” an official of the interior ministry told IANS.
He said that there are several gangs involved in human trafficking. Most of the victims are caught and sent back, with their loans adding to their worries.
Rising inflation, unemployment and the desire to earn a good living force many Pakistanis to go abroad through human traffickers who in most cases leave them at the mercy of security forces.
By Muhammad Najeeb
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