The government faces the dual challenge of addressing systemic corruption and ensuring that law enforcement agencies are both effective and transparent in their operations

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani authorities have intensified their crackdown on human smugglers in response to mounting international pressure, particularly from European nations. Sources reveal that several European countries have formally lodged strong protests with the Pakistani government, urging the establishment of a comprehensive and foolproof mechanism to curb this pervasive issue at its roots.

These countries contend that such illegal activities are unlikely to occur without the complicity or negligence of security officials tasked with preventing them. In light of these concerns, the Pakistani government recently dismissed approximately 36 officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over their alleged involvement in human trafficking. However, insiders claim that a significant number of officials remain complicit in these operations, highlighting the scale of the challenge.

Reports suggest that human smugglers often evade accountability due to their connections with influential figures, including politicians. These traffickers allegedly finance the political campaigns of certain candidates, who, once elected to parliament, provide protection and legal cover to their benefactors. This nexus between human traffickers and political elites has made it exceedingly difficult to dismantle the network, even when culprits are apprehended or face legal scrutiny.

International stakeholders continue to push for stricter action, emphasizing that unchecked human trafficking tarnishes Pakistan’s global image and undermines regional security. The government faces the dual challenge of addressing systemic corruption and ensuring that law enforcement agencies are both effective and transparent in their operations.

In a related development, at least 30 passengers set for travel to different countries were offloaded from planes at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi late on Saturday night over suspicion of human smuggling, sources from the immigration department told .

Immigration officials said that most of the offloaded individuals were going to fall victim to human smuggling. The officials said most of the detained individuals had been transferred to the Anti-Human Smuggling Circle for further investigation, while multiple people were allowed to go back home.

Officials reported that the offloaded passengers were questioned for various reasons.

Abid Ali, a passenger bound for Saudi Arabia, was flagged on the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) list. Similarly, Salman Riaz, a public servant traveling to the Gulf on an employment visa, lacked the required no-objection certificate (NOC).

Several passengers heading to Saudi Arabia — Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Riaz, and Ahmed Khan — were found to have incomplete documents. Another passenger, Faiz, holding a visit visa, lacked sufficient funds for travel expenses and hotel bookings.

Officials also suspected Umrah passengers Iqbal, Imran, Mujahid, another Imran, and Ijaz of being involved in human trafficking.

In another case, Oman-bound passenger Shaukat was found without sufficient funds in his bank account for travel expenses and hotel bookings. Babar Khalil and Hamza Javed, also traveling to Oman, were offloaded due to incomplete work visa documentation.

Records showed that Aminullah, another Oman-bound passenger, held two passports issued under his name.

Dubai-bound passenger Saira Bano failed to provide adequate details regarding her travel expenses, accommodation, and purpose of visit.

Furthermore, Nigerian nationals Daniel Saqib and Syed Bilal Hussain were traveling without work visas, while Tanzanian-bound passengers Sadaf Mustafa and Muhammad Ijaz lacked hotel bookings and sufficient travel funds.