Pakistanis fleeing economic turmoil fall prey to human traffickers at borders

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 5 : Pakistanis who are fleeing rising inflation and unemployment in the country are crossing borders through illegal means as a result of which they often fall prey to the smugglers who kidnap them for ransom, media reports said.
According to the Pakistan local media outlet, The Nation, the country is going through a double whammy -- the rising inflation and unemployment which has become a serious cause of concern as it is ending up in the surge of human traffickers who tries to exploit their poverty.
As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. These needy and desperate Pakistanis are willing to take any risk in search of a better life. They resort to risky ways of exiting the country when they are unable to access legal channels of migration.
The transnational smugglers take huge ransoms from these illegal migrants. Sometimes it cost the people their lives with transnational smugglers squeezing them to pay more than Rs 500,000.
To evade these dire situations, sometimes these people trek through mountainous terrains and no-man's-lands. Most of these young men endure gruelling journeys to the 'promised land' of Europe, grasping for an economic lifeline as jobs dry up in their country.
But theirs is a failed journey, often result in more suffering as gangs lurk in darkness for potential victims. While many are nabbed at the borders of Iran and Turkey - which have become transit countries for illegal migrants - and deported to Pakistan, others walk themselves into death after authorities in Greece use disproportionate force to push them back toward Turkey.
Greek security forces on the border with Turkey are also using dangerous green lasers to deter migrants and refugees from crossing. Once detected by the radars, many refugees are thrown into panic and lose their life in their vain attempts to escape.
Sources privy to the surging murky business of human trafficking told The Express Tribune that many greedy agents in Punjab's districts such as Wazirabad, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Lala Musa and Jhelum are sending many innocent people, who are unaware of the dangers of the routes, to European countries via Iran and Turkey.
Many of these smugglers work in cahoots with networks based in Turkey and Iran.
As if this was not enough, many of these young men, broke and desperate, fall into the hands of gangs in Istanbul who take advantage of the undocumented status of the migrants and kidnap them for ransom.
Already impoverished, many of these broken families have no option but to pay a hefty sum to send their sons abroad through these illegal channels to lift them out of the thicket of poverty.
As for those who are caught at the Turkish border and sent back, face the music back home at the hands of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
In this regard, the FIA officials said that actions are being taken against those who send them illegally to foreign countries and they are also being punished by the courts.
"People have lost their family's savings by naively falling for the dreams sold by agents," an FIA official lamented, adding that instead of going to foreign countries via illegal means, people should learn skills for a better and bright future.