Now focus is on human trafficking: The News, Sept 24

ISLAMABAD: It was a shameful Wednesday for Pakistan, first for being dubbed as one of the most corrupt nations by the Transparency International and then on the same day to be put on the State Department watch list for failing to curb human smuggling.

The government’s failure to provide the required information to the State Department on the former’s efforts to curb human trafficking has led to the Islamabad’s inclusion in the State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List.

Much to the embarrassment of President Zardari, the State Department report said parents in Pakistan sell their daughters into domestic servitude, prostitution, or forced marriages, and women are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment for debts whereas NGOs contend that Pakistani girls are trafficked to the Middle East for sexual exploitation.

The State Department in its report said, “The government of Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

Despite these significant overall efforts, including the prosecution of some trafficking offences and the launch of public awareness programme, the government did not show evidence of progress in addressing the serious issues of bonded labour, forced child labour, and the trafficking of migrant workers by fraudulent labour recruiters; therefore, Pakistan is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

Sources in the FIA said on the ground Pakistan did well during the recent years to continue to be in the category of Tier 2 countries but despite all its efforts it is downgraded and placed in Tier 2 Watch List only because the interior ministry under Rehman Malik failed to provide details of what Islamabad did in this area of global concern.

It was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had made the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking public several weeks back. The report contained a chapter on Pakistan and places it amongst the countries on the Tier 2 Watch List. In case, Pakistan does not improve it may further downgraded to the worse available category — Tier 3.

Because of Eid holidays no one was available either in the FIA or in the interior ministry to explain as to who is responsible for this great embarrassment to Pakistan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also contacted on his mobile number but that, too, was not responding. The ring tone of Malik’s mobile showed as if he is abroad.

Sources said the FIA has presently engaged a team of its officials to prepare details to be provided to the State Department to get back to amongst the countries of category Tier 2. However, no one is sure if the State Department would change its findings about Pakistan after the belated awakening of the latter. A source in the FIA said the incumbent FIA director-general is required to pay more attention to this issue instead of zeroing in on the post of member executive committee of the Interpol for which he is presently campaigning.

Tier 2 Watch List is the category of countries whose governments do not fully comply with Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA) and where a) the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b) there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

In its report, the State Department noted Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for purposes of forced labour and sexual exploitation.

The country’s largest human trafficking problem is that of bonded labour, which is concentrated in Sindh and Punjab provinces, particularly in brick kilns, carpet-making, agriculture, fishing, mining, leather tanning, and production of glass bangles; estimates of Pakistani victims of bonded labour, including men, women, and children, vary widely but are likely over one million.

The report said parents in Pakistan sell their daughters into domestic servitude, prostitution or forced marriages, and women are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment for debts. Moreover, NGOs contend that Pakistani girls are trafficked to the Middle East for sexual exploitation. Pakistan is also a destination for women and children from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, and Nepal trafficked primarily for forced labour. Women from Bangladesh and Nepal are trafficked through Pakistan to the Gulf.

Convictions of trafficking offenders decreased during the reporting period, the report said, adding the government continued to punish victims of sex trafficking and did not provide protection services for victims of forced labour, including bonded labour. The report recommends a significant increase in the law-enforcement activities, including adequate criminal punishment against bonded labour, forced child labour and fraudulent labour recruiting for purposes of trafficking; continue to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and punish acts of government complicity in trafficking at all levels; and expand victim protection services for victims of forced labour and sex trafficking.

It said the government of Pakistan made insufficient law-enforcement efforts to address trafficking in 2008, particularly in regard to labour trafficking, and noted the FIA did not provide data on the number of law-enforcement officials that received training. It said government officials at all levels have been implicated in human trafficking and there were reports of bribery of government and law-enforcement officials during the reporting period.

The report also said the government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking were inadequate during the reporting period. “Pakistan did not report any programs to identify and protect victims of forced labour — the largest sectors of Pakistan’s trafficking victims — particularly bonded labour and forced child labour in informal industries such as domestic work,” the report said, adding foreign victims of trafficking also did not receive government protection services. www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24666