ISLAMABAD, 4 June 2005 — The United States has removed Pakistan from its watch list on human trafficking, but Islamabad needs to do more to stamp out the practice, the US Embassy said yesterday.
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker had delivered a copy of the State Department’s fifth annual Trafficking in Persons report to Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao on Thursday, it said in a statement.
“The report indicates that Pakistan has improved its anti-trafficking performance over the reporting period,” the statement said.
Pakistan is regarded as a major hub for human trafficking and was placed on the watch list last year, but President Pervez Musharraf’s government has launched a drive to tackle people smugglers.
Crocker commended Pakistan’s efforts during his meeting with Sherpao but encouraged continued progress. “We look forward to further cooperation on trafficking-in-persons issues,” he was quoted as telling the minister.
Pakistan had increased trafficking-related prosecutions and convictions and strengthened implementation of key 2002 legislation to prevent human smuggling, the US embassy statement said. It had also established an anti-trafficking unit and co-sponsored several public awareness campaigns, it added.
Pakistani authorities said earlier this year they had arrested two key suspects linked to a human smuggling mafia that has allegedly sent thousands of Pakistanis illegally to Europe in the past eight years.
Intelligence officials also investigated whether the pair had helped wanted militants to flee the country following a crackdown on extremism by Musharraf. There are no official estimates on how many Pakistanis go abroad illegally, but thousands are repatriated every year.
Pakistan had been in danger of slipping into a category under which it would have been in line for economic sanctions, Director General of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency Tariq Pervaiz said. The agency is responsible for combating human trafficking.
“It is an acknowledgement of the efforts by the government to curb the problem,” he said. “In recent years we have given the highest priority to investigation of cases of trafficking and convicting those involved in the trade.”
Pakistan had also taken action against corrupt officials involved in the trade, arresting 90 officials.
“We are going to step up our efforts,” said Pervaiz. “It is a very serious humanitarian issue. Thousands of families have been destroyed by the traffickers.”
