Human smugglers

Human smuggling gangs, which have been in the news for at least the past two decades, notably in central Punjab, appear to have added a new and dangerous dimension to their trade. The smugglers have been taking the people they attempt to smuggle out of the country hostage, torturing them, sending pictures back to their families and demanding ransom. Stories of this heinous crime emerged from Turkey and Iran last year. It has now been confirmed by a horrifying case in which Turkish police conducted a raid in Istanbul and released six hostages while arresting four abductors. The men, most of them from the Gujranwala area of Punjab, had been taken hostage by members of the same gang that had promised to send them to Greece via Turkey. Demands of Rs2 million in ransom for each victim were made to the families. Pakistani officials have confirmed the incident and raids have been conducted in Gujranwala, where at least one member of the gang has been arrested.

It can be said with certainty that the human smuggling racket is a huge one and almost definitely involves persons with influence. Names have come up before, special police units set up, but the business continues as people attempt to leave the country through any means available. There needs to be much wider action within the country to warn people about the risks of attempting to reach foreign lands illegally by paying out sums of money to agents. At the same time, these gangs need to be detected and those heading them – no matter what position they hold – produced before courts. It is fortunate for the six men held in Turkey that they were rescued alive. Things could have been much worse and there will be further attempts by gangs of smugglers to play the same game with other victims who they have managed to seize and lure into a journey overseas which ends in the hands of abductors.