Curbing human trafficking part of govt policy: Ahsan

Islamabad: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that it the part of government policy to curb human trafficking and robust steps have been taken in this direction while crackdown against the human traffickers are underway throughout the country.

Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views while chairing a meeting at Nadra Headquarters to review the Readmission Case Management System (RCMS) Wednesday. Ambassadors of European Union (EU) countries also participated in the meeting.

Interior minister said that it was the part of government policy to curb human trafficking. “We have taken robust steps in this connection and crackdown against the human traffickers is underway throughout the country,” he said. He also asserted that they would not allow any Pakistani to live illegally anywhere in the world. Pakistan has become among the countries who have initiated the E-passport facility that will minimise the cases of forgeries and render swift verification of the identity of Pakistanis living in any other country of the world, he added.

Interior minister stressed that Pakistani nation had rendered unparallel sacrifices in the war against terror. “The world should acknowledge our achievements by understanding the remarkable commitment of Pakistan as a peace loving country of the world,” he added.

Ahsan Iqbal said that arm twisting methods would not yield the favourable results in the war against terrorism. “Rather, placing us under conditions will give terrorists the opportunity to take refuge behind the pretext that they are being subjected to international agenda, whereas eliminating extremism is our own national agenda,” he claimed.

Interior minister said that Pakistan was eager to cultivate people to people relations with the European states and also values the development of relations with European Union.

He also said that it was their utmost priority to make investment in our youth for peace and prosperity in the region. He also said that they wanted strong links with European Union by developing a knowledge platform with European countries so that our youth can study in the top European universities.

Interior minister also said that economic relations between Pakistan and European countries should be based on bilateral trade, adding that Pakistani markets had the huge potential to attract the foreign investers.

Later on, chairman Nadra briefed the participants on the New Electronic Readmission Case Management System. It is to be noted that government of Pakistan and European community signed an agreement titled “European Union Readmission Agreement (EURA)” to adopt a procedure for safe return of the persons residing without authorisation. On the directions of Ministry of Interior, Nadra signed an agreement with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on electronic Readmission Case Management System (RCMS) on 20th April, 2017.

The basic aim of the project is to develop an electronic platform to make readmission process more efficient and less time consuming between GOP and EU member states. System deployment and configuration in EU member states (Germany, France, Belgium, and Greece) was completed in February, 2018.